Subtract by Reality
by Adam Durlock
Summary: He was supposed to be all alone, that was his reality but he's had all that taken away. Now he's been somewhat adopted and not sure what to do. At least he has his crazy clones to make light of everything. Eventual Ino/Naru/Hina?
1. A New Home

_**Subtract by Reality  
**__**The Doujutsu Choronicles: Book Three**_

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki was sitting down with a huge scroll strewn across his lap. His short and spiky strawberry blonde hair hanging over his goggles and almost into his eyes. "Maybe I should have told Mizuki-sensei I'd be here." he murmured to himself, scratching his chin. 'Eh. The Chuunin instructor would find him eventually. It really wasn't that big of a deal, he could wait for the end of this secondary exam to end and then he'd get his promotion, finally. Yet at the same time, he really wanted to learn something off the scroll, and this _Kage Bunshin _really looked like it would do the trick. "Guh. Okay. I think I've got it." He didn't even both standing up as he tried to do the handseal and called out the technique.

Nothing happened.

"Kami-dammit!" Naruto swore and closed his eyes to concentrate, trying once again to follow the instructions and failing miserably.

Not that it would make him stop, his frustrations kept him going and going. He didn't know how long he'd be able to re-read the instructions on the scroll so he kept trying and trying. His focus tightening so much that once he starting making success with the _Bunshinjutsu _that he didn't know the veins around his eyes bulging, or the fact that his vision had expanded. Subconsciously, he was making corrections to his chakra outflow to go and fix his attempts at every failure. Cofmpiled with the fact that he was unknowingly taking in the information around him because of his failures, he was quickly speeding up the process until he had managed to summon a proper clone.

"Hey, you did it Boss!" the clone exclaimed, the first one to speak, of course, he wasn't the most intelligent clone of the bunch so he didn't realize that the bulges around his creator's eyes were any different than his lack of ones. Of course, this was Naruto Uzumaki and when he was concentrating on something, the rest of the world be damned.

Naruto just nodded to the clone and had it disappear before he started working on numbers now. He had gotten one, but the minimum to pass was three after all. Thankfully, this jutsu was a lot easier to use when compared to _Bunshin no Jutsu_, this one was much less frustrating and he'd soon have it mastered. Though at that though, Naruto tilted his head to the side, it was kinda like his _Oiroke no Jutsu _when compared to the regular _Henge no Jutsu_. He had pretty much ignored the hand signs since they were flubbing up his _Henge_ and just went with a single one to get his variant. It was a lot more potent too, and controlling the smoke was somewhat amusing.

"Hey, maybe if I treat it like that..." Naruto said after a moment of thought. He had added the smoke just for the heck of it, and added some more 'Oomph' to his _Oiroke no Jutsu _so that it felt realistic and actually turned him into a girl for the duration of the of the jutsu.

The first test of the experient even ended up as a success!

Soon enough, he was pouring his chakra into various extra parts of the technique and it was coming to him a lot easier. Though, now some of his clones seemed to think they were trying to be funny and a few were playing games with each other until they were forced to dispel themselves. Of course, by the end of it he was starting to pant in exhaustion, it'd been a while since he felt like this, back when he was a kid really. He finally had it though, and that was awesome! Huh, wait... "Iruka-Sensei?" He called out.

"Naruto, where are you?" Iruka called back.

"I'm over here! Wait, you can't see me? How come I can see you?" Naruto blinked a few times, not understanding that he could actually see all around him right now. "I'm by the cabin, Iruka-sensei." He said after a moment of thought.

Quickly enough, the Chuunin Instructor appeared by the Cabin, for all intents and purposes, pissed off. "Naruto...you...!" he started to yell when he came around the corner but was stopped suddenly by what he was seeing on his favorite student's face.

"Haha. Found me, huh? Well, I just finished too. With this I'll finally be a Genin." Naruto grinned. "Hey, hey? Wanna see?"

"N-Naruto, what are you even doing here? You're going to be in big trouble." Iruka shook his head, ignoring the difference in Naruto's eyes for now.

"Huh? What do you mean? Mizuki-sensei told me to come here with this so I could pass the hidden Genin Exam." Naruto frowned suddenly.

"Mizuki? He did what?" Iruka's eyes widened as Naruto suddenly dove out of the way while biting off some curses. "Look out Naruto!" Iruka ran forward, grabbing Naruto out of way of harm as shuriken and kunai alike suddenly pierced the air.

A malicious laugh broke through the air. "Ah, Iruka. It's good to see you." Mizuki stepped out from the shadows, up in a tree. "How'd you avoid those, brat?" Mizuki's eyes narrowed as he saw the veins around Naruto's eyes and suddenly cursed to himself. "Byakugan, huh? No matter. Naruto, give me the scroll!"

"No! Naruto, don't hand him the scroll!" Iruka shouted, shoving the strawberry blonde away from him. "Get back to the village! I'll hold him off."

"I-Iruka-Sensei? Hey? What's going on? Someone tell me!" Naruto suddenly demanded, clutching onto the Forbidden Scroll. If he knew this was going to happen, there sure as hell was no way he would have done something like this.

"Oh? So you want to know the truth?" Mizuki asked with a feral grin, flipping a kunai in his hand as he readied to throw it. "Fine. I'll tell you the truth." The silver haired man started to cackle.

"No! Mizuki! Don't you fucking dare!" Iruka swore at his fellow Instructor.

"Ah, shut it Iruka." Mizuki snarled and threw the kunai at his former friend, distracting the Chuunin enough to speak as it the kunai went careening through the air. "There's no sense in you keeping the scroll anyway, Naruto. Tell me. What do you know about the death of the Kyuubi Kitsune no Youko?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked, looking back between Iruka and Mizuki, not sure who to trust. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Twelve years ago, after that demon was defeated, there was a rule passed down amongst the village." Mizuki continued, throwing some shuriken at Iruka to keep him busy while he talked.

"A rule?"

"Yeah, this rule was to never be told to you, brat." Mizuki snarled, looking fully at the boy now.

"Mizuki. I'll kill you!" Iruka snarled, throwing his own shuriken back while the other man just laughed and dodged out of the way.

"Tell me, dammit!"

"The rule that you're not allowed to know that you're the Demon Fox!" Mizuki yelled triumphantly. "You! You little demon! You helped destroy the village twelve years ago!"

"N-n-nani?" Naruto blinked, shivering as all around him he felt cold.

"No! It's not true Naruto!" Iruka said, looking desperately at the boy.

"You're the one that killed all those villagers! You killed Iruka's parents and tried to destroy the village!" Mizuki grinned, suddenly throwing several shuriken Iruka again as he pulled one of the two Fuuma Shuriken off his back. "The old man Hokage you so admire sealed you away!"

"Damn you, Mizuki..." Iruka had tears in his eyes as he tried to deny what Mizuki was saying, not being able to deflect all of the projectiles as several pierced his clothing and flak jacket, cutting into him.

"You've been lied to, you've been hated, and now you know why!" Mizuki snarled, spinning the Fuuma Shuriken on one hand. "Iruka hates you too! It's true and everyone knows it! No one loves you and that scroll was used to seal you up!"

"N-no..." Iruka whispered, slumping to one knee as Mizuki threw the large shuriken at Naruto who was so distraught his chakra was flaring erratically and the veins around his eyes disappeared.

"DIE!"

That was when a mist of blood was sprayed into the air.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was puffing on his pipe while watching the goings on, knowing that at least Naruto was training using the scroll instead of using it for something malicious. Thankfully, no one had come across him in his knocked out state, and he had cursed that infernal jutsu. "Hmm...?" he peered closer at the crystal ball in front of him as his eyes narrowed at what he was seeing. "Is that? My my, it is." Hiruzen shook his head and made a couple hand seals to call one of his ANBU.

"I need Hiashi Hyuuga here as soon as possible." The Third ordered. "If he asks, tell him it's an order and very important."

The ANBU didn't say a word and nodded before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

"Naruto, just what have you gotten yourself into?" The old man shook his head while taking another puff from his pipe as he continued to watch the boy train and actually come up with an actual clone. Honestly, it did surprise the old Hokage and made his let out a small laugh at what he had seen. As Sarutobi watched, waiting for Hiashi to show up, he watched as the boy got progressively better at making the clones until he made a few of them at the same time.

"Hokage-sama." Hiashi's voice cut in from the other side of the door with one knock before the door opened up to let in an irate Hiashi Hyuuga. "What do you need at this time of night?"

"Sorry, Hiashi. I've got no time for formalities. You need to see this, it's important." Sarutobi spoke wearily as he pushed his chair off to the side a little and beckoned the Hyuuga patriarch over next to him so he could peer into the crystal ball at the same time, the man's pale lavender eyes widening considerably as they both watched Iruka appear on the scene.

"Where is this?" Hiashi suddenly demanded, turning to leave.

"Hold for a moment. I want to see how things turn out." Sarutobi said gently, "That and we need to discuss this."

"There is nothing to discuss." Hiashi said simply, narrowing his eyes. "The boy must be trained and properly."

"And your clan's seal?" Sarutobi arched an eyebrow, pulling off his hat and setting it down on the table.

"I...that needs to be discussed within the clan between the Elders and I." Hiashi edged, not wanting to use the seal himself.

"I understand that." Hiruzen said with a small shake of his head. "But in this, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put my foot down."

Hiashi looked up in surprise, and a small hint of gratitude. "Really?"

"Hai." Sarutobi's eyes narrowed a little. "We don't know how the seal would react to the Fourth's, and it could potentially lead to disaster...will be the official story."

"Unofficially. It is an abomination." Hiashi said with a roll of his shoulders. "That and no doubt some of the Main House would just use it to try and kill the boy too."

"There is that." Sarutobi nodded, knowing full well that his law had ensured that nothing outside of hateful glares would happen, but if a chance was given, someone would surely give it. Stupid fools.

Then something in the crystal caught both their eyes. "Mizuki?" Sarutobi asked, mainly to himself and then his eyes narrowed as he took in the entire scene. "Hiashi. Go. And do get rid of Mizuki for me." The Hyuuga just gave a curt nod and strode from the room with a purpose. The laws were absolute after all. The old man let loose a deep sigh. "It might only be a very minuscule chance, but it is a chance. The boy is afraid now. I just hope the seal doesn't break...if it does..." Sarutobi closed his eyes and sighed.

Outside his window, various members of the village were calling for Naruto's death now. Maybe it was time to head that off right now before things got out of control. It wouldn't do for something like that to happen.

* * *

"Try to touch Iruka-Sensei again and _I'll kill YOU!_" Naruto snarled, putting the scroll down, unconsciously pushing chakra to his eyes once again as the veins bulged on his face as he made a single cross-shaped seal.

"N-Naruto? You baka! Run away! I can deal with Mizuki!" Iruka was panting, bleeding all over the place now, especially the large wound in his back from when he covered Naruto.

"Hah!" Mizuki snorted while sneering at the two of them, rubbing his chin, trying to ignore the pain from when Naruto just slammed into him. "I'll kill a little demon like you in one shot!"

"Bring it!" Naruto's voice shifted, sounding more guttal and feral as he spoke. "You trash! I'll return the pain over a hundred fold!"

Mizuki just sneered again "Then do it!" he yelled.

"FINE! _**KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!**_" Naruto screamed as he let the rage and power fuel him as he forced the chakra together for the technique.

Smoke filled the forest and as it blew away there were to many clones to count. The strawberry blond boy dressed in orange had clones that filled the forest, all with his new found Doujutsu unconsciously still activated. It was a sight to see, and it utterly impressed Iruka, mainly because the Chuunin Instructor was being protected by the mass amounts of clones that shouldn't even really exist."Naruto...you've..." he trailed off in awe.

Mizuki, on the other hand, looked around in shock as his eyes widened. "Whaaaat? This...this isn't possible! Kai! KAI!"

"What's wrong?" Several of the clones called out while others also spoke. "Weren't you gonna kill me?" The original stepped up, his eyes narrowed angrily. "You're going down. Get 'im, boys!"

That's when the clones started to charge, attacking Mizuki for all they were worth, piling on the Chuunin at every attempt to keep him from moving around and using any kind of jutsu he might have had. The screams of pain coming from the man echoed off the trees throughout the forest, and as the clones started to disperse when Mizuki fell to the ground, twitching in his unconsciousness, Hiashi Hyuuga stepped into the clearing, just off to the side.

He remained passive and silent while Iruka and Naruto talked for a few moments, watching with a detatched look on his face as Iruka handed over his own headband to Naruto.

"Congratulations of graduating, Naruto. I hope you do me and the Village proud." Iruka finally said, prompting Hiashi to step forward and become noticed. "Hyuuga-sama." Iruka's eyes went wide. "What are you doing all the way out here?" Iruka struggled to try and get to his feet with Naruto helping him.

"I'm here for the boy." Hiashi's eyes narrowed at the orange wearing kid. "And to make sure Mizuki was dealt with."

"Hey, hey. Why're you here for me?" Naruto blinked, shying away from the Hyuuga clan leader. Stepping somewhat behind Iruka as he steadied his sensei. "It's not because of what I did a couple months ago, is it?"

The stoic man lifted an eyebrow ever so slightly before reaching down and picking up the defeated Chuunin with one hand. "No, Naruto." He said simply, though inwardly smirking. "But you shouldn't admit to things like that, regardless." He spoke after hefting the man over his shoulder as if he was a rag.

"I mean...I did nothing a couple months ago, so you shouldn't be looking for me. Heh heh heh..." he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Everything is fine, Naruto." Iruka said with a smile down at his student. "Now, why don't we go back to the village? I can get you some ramen."

Hiashi looked at the two before he nodded ever so slightly, more to himself than anything. "After that, could you help the boy pack all his things?"

"Nani?"

"Hyuuga-sama?"

"He will be moving into the Hyuuga compound with the rest of my clan."

"But why?"

"Naruto, hush for a second."

"Boy." Hiashi spoke sharply, trying to not cringe at the unsightly amount of orange the boy wore. "You awoke a bloodline limit that is known only to my clan. You need to be trained within it's use so you do not become a liability to your team."

"I have a what? Wait. Me? That's not right...maybe it's beca..." Naruto's mouth shut as he looked blankly at Mizuki as his mood suddenly dropped like a rock.

"I'm quite sure that isn't it." Iruka said gently, wrapping a hand around the strawberry blonde's shoulder.

"Quite." Hiashi agreed, suddenly starting to walk off. "You will receive help from the Branch House to move your things. They will be waiting at your home whenever you finish eating. Good day Umino-san." Then Hiashi disappeared into the forest with Mizuki, leaving Naruto and Iruka behind with the scroll.

"Well, I guess that's that." Iruka said with a few blinks, wincing at the pain in his back. "Come on Naruto, we should get back."

"Sure thing Iruka-sensei...but I've gotta question."

"Nani?" Iruka asked as they started to slowly walk back.

"How am I supposed to move my garden?"

* * *

People were yelling at each other, cursing about what Naruto had done and how no one had managed to find the boy quite yet. All things considered, it was a wonder how someone wearing orange could hide just as well as he could. Emotions were running high and Sarutobi figured now would be the perfect time to put an end to the soon to be lynch mob. "Everyone! Quiet down!" He barked while holding his pipe.

"Hokage-sama?" A majority of them did as he commanded, turning and looking at their leader while subconsciously straightening in their stances.

"Everything is fine now. He and Iruka will be back soon with the scroll."

"Hokage-sama, what's going to happen?" One of the calmer people managed to ask.

"Nothing will happen to Naruto, he was tricked into thinking this was a way to pass the exam by one of his Chuunin-sensei." He responded with a puff of smoke. "I would like clan members to head back to their respective homes and tell their Clan Heads that I am calling a meeting tomorrow to deal with a change in the Ninja teams."

"I'm assuming this has to deal with Naruto?" One of the Yamanaka asked.

"Indeed. There's no point in keeping this quiet. Naruto Uzumaki has unlocked a Kekkai Genkai and is on his way to be moved into the Hyuuga clan. Non-clan members, please spread the word, and can someone please fetch me Tsubaki? Tell her it has to do with Mizuki."

"Hai!" they all shouted, some trading looks of fear between them. Once word got out that Naruto would become a Hyuuga, attitude to the boy would be much changed publically. It'd be a village wide scandal if the boy ever talked about his treatment. Soon enough, however, the majority of the older people within the village knew, though most kept it from their children for now. It would be best not to announce such sudden shifts in attitude towards a boy that was supposed to be reviled. The peace would be hard to keep otherwise.

"Now what am I going to say to the Clans tomorrow? Might as well just let Hiashi do the talking." Though, now that he thought about it, he'd probably have to rework the teams. Originally he was planning on having Kakashi being the sensei of Team Seven, but now he wasn't so sure about it. Well, that and Kakashi asked to train Naruto, but at the same time that was because the man volunteered to give the team a try. Well, he'd give Kakashi's name as a sensei at the meeting and see how things would go. It was also a good thing the team announcements weren't for another week either. It wouldn't do for Iruka to show up in bandages.

With a small shake of his head, Sarutobi decided to go see how Naruto and Iruka were doing at Ichiraku's and help the young boy pack. That and apologize for not realizing what Mizuki was going on about...

* * *

"All done!" Naruto cheered. "This technique is more useful than I thought." He blinked at that and pointed an accusing finger at Iruka. "Why don't we learn this at the Academy? It's tons easier to use-ttbayo!"

The Chuunin chuckled weakly and shook his head, glad that the Academy was closed for the next few days. "Most people can't use that technique to create more than a few clones at a time. Even then, not as many for as long."

"Huh? Really? Why not?" Naruto blinked at the man.

Iruka developed a small twitch in his eyebrow as he looked at his worst, yet most favorite, student. "This is why I always told you to pay attention in class, baka."

"Hey!"

"You remember what jutsu's use, right?"

"Catra, right?"

"...Chakra, Naruto. Chakra."

"Right. I knew that, I was just playin'-ttbayo." The boy still managed to look sheepish though.

"I believe you. Anyway, as I was saying," Iruka hefted up a box at that, "Chakra is used to power everything you do. Most people don't have the amount of chakra to pull that technique off long enough to make it useful."

"It was kinda hard to keep all those clones goin' for few minutes I guess."

"Yes, and you had how many clones active at one time?"

"I dunno. Lost count really."

"Heh. Naruto, most Genin would get sick and pass out after having two clones active for about half a minute."

"Really?"

"Well, Sasuke could probably handle a couple or a few for about a minute or two before he got tired...and that's just having them active, not actually using them for combat like you did."

The blue-eyed boy blinked and paused at that, in fact so did most of his clones. The majority of them got savage grins on their faces and those ones were dispelled by Naruto almost instantly when he saw that. There was no way he'd let his rival slash half-friend find out about this jutsu yet. "Hey, hey. Speaking of Duckhair, I'm gonna be on his team, right?"

"Probably. He has the marks in the Academy while you have the worst."

"Seriously? Aw man. I thought we'd finally be doing better than Shikamaru, or at least Kiba." One of the clones complained

"Leaving Chouji out of that list?" Iruka asked, not noting it was a clone.

"He's got the best marks outta the four of us, what do you think?" A different clone asked.

Iruka just smiled at Naruto. Those were the only three he really got along with in class, at least publicly anyway. He dropped his hand on the short boy's head and rubbed his strawberry blond hair, making an even bigger mess out of it. "So, do you want to choose who is on your team?"

"Nah. Don't really care. I get along with Sasuke well enough outside of the Academy. Though, we both could do without his fan base. Sakura an' Ino ain't bad when they're not bein' squealy though." Naruto grumbled at that and made some more clones to help finish up his packing as there came a knock on the door. "Come on in!" Naruto called out.

"Naruto, the door is locked, remember?" Sarutobi finally spoke up, having watched the two bicker and talk, a large smile on his face because Iruka was still teaching things, even when outside of the Academy.

"Oh right. Thanks Old Man." Naruto nodded and put down the box he was moving and went over to the door to unlock it, two members of the Hyuuga Brance Family were there in their usual civilian wear.

The two men bowed ever so slightly, looking at the boy with a slight bit of interest. "Naruto-sama. We are here to help you move your things."

Suffice to say, the boy was stunned with the honorific and numbly let the two men in. Both of which who nodded to Iruka and made a halfbow to Sarutobi.

"How much more do you have, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked.

"Uhh, everything's packed up, Old Man." Naruto tapped his chin. "Yep. I'm done. Guess we might as well move everything."

Since all was said and done, everyone was admittedly surprised that there were so many things. Mainly they were small knick-knacks that the boy had picked up over the years. Most of his clones were sharing a box while Iruka carried one himself and the two from the Hyuuga were carrying a couple boxes each. Sarutobi even helped with two of the boxes as well while walking beside the non-cloned Naruto who was clutching his new headband as if it was a lifeline.

It didn't take them long to reach the Hyuuga Clan Grounds since Naruto actually lived near them. "I'll just set these here." Sarutobi placed the boxes by the gate. "I have to go get some paperwork done for tomorrow. Will everything be okay, Naruto?"

"Of course, Old Man. Thanks so much for helpin' and the ramen." Naruto grinned cheerfully.

"Excellent." Sarutobi smiled while pulling out a pipe and putting it between his lips. "Iruka, I'll get you a new headband tomorrow since I believe Naruto's not going to let that one go."

The Chuunin chuckled and nodded his head to his Hokage. "It's no problem. Good night, Hokage-sama."

"You too. Goodnight Hikari, Hazumi."

"Hokage-sama." The two Hyuuga bowed at the same time before one of them turned to Iruka. "We shall take care of things from here, Umino-san."

"Thank you, Hyuuga-san." Iruka nodded his head. "I'll see you later, Naruto. I still need to get to the hospital."

"Okay, Iruka-sensei. See you!" The cheerful boy waved and smiled as he made a few more clones to grab the rest of the boxes.

It didn't take long and soon enough all of Naruto's stuff was inside of the Compound while both Hazumi and Hikari helped Naruto bring all of his things into one of the rooms that had been set aside for him. The room itself was much larger than the bedroom he had in his apartment and it seemed like there was already a bed there and a few places for him to put his things.

Once Naruto dispersed all his clones, and was finally alone, he let his mask drop and stared out the window silently, the cheerful look was gone, replaced with one that was thoughtful. "I hope things end up working out..." he whispered softly to himself and dragging his hand through his pale colored hair. Finally Naruto looked down into his headband, it shiny enough to see his own reflection as he looked into his own blue eyes. "Everything will be okay. Everything will be fine. I promise, I won't fail you..." he trailed off, the faint hint of a sad smile piercing his lips as he finally set the headband down and went around unpacking the things he would need for tomorrow.

* * *

"And?"

"It is done, Hyuuga-sama."

Thank you. Find my daughters and bring them here. Dismissed."

Hiashi Hyuuga sat in his study and silently watched as the two Branch Members of the family left. The Prankster of Konoha was officially living in his home, and he had already had dealt with the Hyuuga Elders at a Clan meeting. They weren't to happy about any of it, but at least his father seemed to see the point in what he was doing. He didn't always get along with the old codger, at least not since his twin's death, but things were starting to look up.

"Come in." Hiashi said when he heard the knock on his study. The door creaked in and in came both his daughters, Hinata still wearing her headband around her neck. "I have news that concerns the entire family."

"Father." They both said with a nod as they stood before his desk, neither taking either of the chairs available.

"As of now, Naruto Uzumaki is now a member of the Hyuuga family, a member of the Main House." Hyuuga stated simply. "He has developed the Byakugan and we are taking him in. He is to be trained with it's use as of tomorrow."

"N-N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stuttered, her face started to flush red and her eyes going wide while Hanabi just blinked a few times, the younger girl cocking her head to the side.

"Indeed. No one is sure how well his eyes work, but I hope to find out tomorrow." Hiashi nodded, looking between his two daughters. "He is to be treated with respect, like other members of the family. Understood?"

"Yes Father." They both respond while Hanabi asks her own question. "Who is this Naruto Uzumaki anyway? Isn't he that person who always wears bright orange?" A frown passed the serious girl's lips. "Why would anyone wear such an eyesore of a color?"

Hiashi was about to speak but was cut off as Hinata rounded on her younger sister, a hint of steel in her posture. "N-Naruto-kun wears that color for a few reasons."

"Oh? And why is that, Onee-san?" Hanabi cocked an eyebrow, looking as if she didn't believe it at all.

"It's his favorite color, it gets him noticed." Hinata said at first, ignoring the roll of her sisters eyes and the unladylike snort. "Would you also be able to wear such a color and evade Nin for several hours at a time for most of the days of the week?" Hinata continued, her posture straightening and the stutter disappearing as she defended the boy.

"I don't believe that." Hanabi retorted defiantly.

Hinata just glared for a moment, looking a little like her father with that glare. "I've watched him evade Chuunin, Jounin, and even ANBU for upwards of four hours while yelling at them every now and then just so they don't completely lose track." Hinata said in full honesty. "Only Iruka-sensei and Hokage-sama seem to have been able to stop him, and I'm sure that's because he lets Iruka-sensei find him every now and then. All while wearing that orange clothing."

Hanabi still looked disbelieving while Hiashi finally cut in. "He has managed to evade members of both the Branch and Main sides of the family. He doesn't usually involve us in his pranks however."

"Really, Father?" Hanabi asked, getting a curt nod at that. "I...wonder why." the little girl blinked.

"Did you see what he did today, daughter?" Hiashi finally asked.

"I heard he painted Hokage Mountain." Hanabi finally responded after some thought.

Hiashi nodded a little. "Now imagine if he was an enemy nin, and what he could have gotten away with in that amount of time."

He watched his youngest pale at the thought of what exactly could have happened in that amount of time. "I...I see." Hanabi looked down, slightly flushed.

"With that out of the way. You shall treat him with all due respect. Is that understood?" Hiashi narrowed his eyes at his daughters.

"Hai!" Hanabi responded while Hinata nodded.

"Excellent. He shall start his training tomorrow with the both of you at the same time. Now, is there anything else either of you would like to add?"

"Hai." Hinata nodded, taking a small step forward. "N-Naruto-kun...well..." she trailed off, trying to fight the blush threatening to take her face before she finally managed to start speaking again, almost blurting it out. "His Chakra control is horrible."

"Oh?" Hiashi raised a slender eyebrow at that.

"H-h-he can't do _Henge _properly and h-he's never b-been able to a s-s-solid _Bunshin_. T-t-they've failed h-h-him for the past three times because of it." Hinata bit down on her lip and straightened, ignoring the feeling of blood on her tongue. "Training will take a while because of it."

"Useless." Hanabi snorts out.

Hinata stared at her sister for a moment, the look out outrage clearly starting to show on her face.

Hiashi just started to laugh to himself instead. "There is a reason for that."

"Father?" Hanabi asked, frowning at the thought that someone had a reason to be so...weird and useless.

"Indeed. I've seen the reports and heard a few things myself. Hinata, you failed to mention his changes to his _Henge_ technique." He chided his daughter gently, causing the pale girl to flush again.

"I did not think it would be right to mention..._that_."

"Perhaps you are right." Hiashi watched as his younest blinked in confusion but he went on, ignoring the fact. "You could compare the boy to one of your fellow classmates, Hinata." Hiashi paused, looking at the papers before him, shuffling through them and picking up one and turning it around to show a girl with wild pink hair that went to just past her shoulders.

"Sakura Haruno?" Hinata frowned, wondering what she had to do with Naruto in this case.

"Hai." Hiashi nodded curtly. "Out of your classmates, she probably has some of the least chakra, but in turn she has control over it. Perhaps the best control most people have seen in years, perhaps even this last decade." The two girls remained silent while their father watched them for signs of understanding. Hinata was starting to get there, but she still didn't realize, so Hiashi pressed on. "The boy has the opposite problem. Though, really it's less of a problem than most people think, but such a rare problem that no one understood, nor did they even feel like fixing it."

"He has to much chakra to control properly?" Hinata asked, cocking her head to the side slightly. She hadn't really looked at him with her Byakugan before.

"That's rubbish." Hanabi declared.

Hiashi nodded curtly at his eldest before smirking ever so slightly. "Earlier this evening, I watched him use a technique that would kill most Genin and Chuunin because of Chakra exhaustion, and he was energetic enough to run back home with your Sensei."

"With, Iruka-sensei?" Hinata frowned at that before shaking her head. "What did he do?"

"A B-rank technique, though, what he did was really an A-class version of the ability that most Jounin would have trouble pulling off." Hiashi stated simply, holding up a hand to forestall commentary from his two girls. "To put it in prospective, Neji, if he was to use the technique, might be able to summon two _Bunshin_of this variety for upwards of a minute at the most and then he would run out of chakra for the rest of the day. Hokage-sama, could probably use several in a long fight and be fine, however."

"What does Naruto have to do with that?" Hinata finally asked.

"I watched that boy summon a few hundred _Bunshin_of that type, in a fight that lasted a few minutes." Hiashi stated. "It should have killed him, and it did not. In fact, he cheered when he was done." Hiashi looked both girls in the eye. "Again, in compairison to Neji, who because of his precise control and the fact that he coule pass the Chuunin Exams coming up, could control one, maybe two outside of a fight for a minute." They both looked up to their older cousin. Hinata especially, even if Neji wouldn't give her the time of day anymore. "Do you understand now?"

"Hai, Father." Hinata finally nodded while Hanabi started to tremble at the thought but finally gave a nod.

"Excellent. You two are dismissed. Be ready to train as soon as you get home from your paperwork tomorrow, Hinata."

With that, the two youngest Hyuuga members left the room leaving Hiashi alone in the room to do paperwork and mll over what exactly he was going to do tomorrow at the Council Meeting. Perhaps he would talk to Sarutobi-sama beforehand and they could work something out. This information that he had been going over since he had brought in Mizuki was, as the Nara family put it, troublesome.

* * *

The Third Hokage was sitting down, puffing on his pipe as he looked at all of the people assembled around him. The previous night had been overly annoying to deal with, and this was just compounding on things. At this rate, the Hokage might just be willing to take to the habits of one of his own former students. Specifically that of Tsunade and getting roaring drunk. "Alright. Everyone here? Good." He nodded, mainly to himself once the door was closed. "First and foremost, I'm sure most of you got the news last night that we had a traitor in our midst. Thanks to the timing of one of the Academy Instructors and one of the students, nothing bad happened. Outside of a few minor injuries that is."

The old man smiled to himself a little, looking at people again before pulling the pipe from his lips as he spoke, his eye staying on Danzo for half a second longer than anyone. "However, in the process after the capture of the traitor, it was discovered just whom the man was working for, and in leiu of that VIllage Security will be upped for the foreseeable future."

A few of the civilians complained about that, mainly a couple merchants, but a single glance silenced them.

"Going on, as I said, the discovery of the man behind this incident is a former student of my former pupil, Orochimaru. It would seem he wants nothing more than to completely destroy the village." The Hokage sighed and shook his head, cutting off the gasps of surprise. "Thus the reasons behind added security." He smiled somewhat at the civilians who nodded in agreement.

"Just whom were the two that stopped this traitor?" Shikaku asked politely, of course, it was planned out in advance with the Nara Patriarch, so Sarutobi was expecting it.

"Ah yes. Well, for one, it was Mizuki that was the traitor. I'm sure most of you know of him. It might be best for those families that had students in the most recent graduating class go over a few things with them. He might've sabotaged their abilities. As for the ones that stopped him, his friend Iruka Umino was the Chuunin who came upon the scene and was helped by one Naruto Uzumaki. Primarily, it was Naruto who did all the work."

"How do we know the boy wasn't working with Mizuki to do whatever it was?" One of more arrogant civilians asked.

"Steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals?" Sarutobi arched an eyebrow at the man, inwardly groaning at the memory of what the boy had done to get the scroll. '_I think I should ban that technique..._'

Some of them snorted, but a couple pressed on, saying it could be possible that they were in league.

With a faint sigh, he directed his gaze to Hiashi who nodded curretly and pulled out a folder with a stack of papers.

"First off," Hiashi spoke, an eyebrow raising as he spoke, "are you accusing a member of the Hyuuga Family of treating with the enemy?"

_That_ shut everyone up for about two seconds before people started to freak out.

"Well? I believe you just accused a member of my clan of collaborating with an S-class criminal." Hiashi was grinning on the inside but his stern gaze was taking in everyone as he finally scowled. "If this is how memebers of the esteemed council are going to react towards my clan, then I request a vote of no confidence upon the civilian council to have it hereby disbanded. This is an insult to me and mine."

"How is that brat a member of your family?" One of them scowls right back at Hiashi. He was probably one of the ringleaders of this recent turn of events.

"How else would anyone be a member of my clan? Of course the boy has the Byakugan." Hiashi sneered. "He used it to defeat that traitor last night."

"Now now, Hiashi, is that really neccesary?" Chouza finally asked, one of the calmest of both sides of the council.

Hiashi looked at the large man rather blankdly and then opened up the folder he had brought out and took a few select pages out of it and slid them down the table to the Akimichi representative. "Those are some of the things I have found within the last day of looking. Orders on how the boy was to be treated from private sessions within the civilian council. This is just within one area of the village, and younger members of your family have come to agree and treat the boy the same."

Chouza narrowed his eyes at that, glancing his eyes between Hiashi and his Hokage for a couple seconds before looking at the papers before him. With each passing second he grew more and more red in the face. Once he finished the first page, outrage was clearly evident, and with the final page it looked like the normally gentle man was about to snap. Trembling with rage, he slid the papers back to Hiashi. "Motion Seconded. I also apologize for my attitude last night as well. I believed what was going on before I got all the facts."

Both Shikaku and Inoichi looked at their friend in surprise as the large man flushed a little in embarresment.

"Was there anything else?" Sarutobi's gaze washed over the civilians, his face becoming stern, and most of them shut up, except for a scant few.

"Hokage-sama." One of them timidly spoke. "May I speak?"

The Third Hokage blinked a few times and then nodded slowly.

The man pulled out his own little folder and set it on the table. "As much as I hate to agree, I would like to third the motion of disbanding the council, but only in it's current form." He opened the folder and tugged at his collar a little. "To be replaced with others, and maybe to have an election of sorts to be the representatives to yourself, Hokage-sama."

"Ah, a choice idea, if I do say so myself." Sarutobi smiled slightly. "A vote from everyone, ages sixteen and up for the civilians, and those Chuunin and ranked higher might be best."

There was almost wholesale agreements, and almost everyone nodded. There were a few disgruntled people on the council that disagreed, but when they were told that they could run for their positions once again, that almost all went away. All in all, everything was turning out to be better, and without the obligitory bloodshed that usually followed these kind of proceedings. The motion was carried and passed, a few more minor details were gone over and then the civilians were dismissed to start their new election.

That left the Shinobi behind and matters of the new teams were brought up.

"Now, does anyone have any recommedations for changes to the teams? Iruka has set up all of the graduates into teams that would likely work best. Now is just a matter of their sensei." Sarutobi exhaled a ring of smoke as he himself handed out ten pages with the teams, everyone giving them all a once over before they were handed back. "Admittedly though, I'm expecting only two or three teams to pass this year, but a full class of graduates is pretty nice."

"Which two teams were you expecting to pass, Hokage-sama?" Shibi asked.

"Eight and Ten, most likely. Eight is probably a bit over specialized though in a full tracking team. Ten, well, it worked before and all." He gave a faint chuckle. "Though, at the same time, at the end of the last war, you three were seeing less effectiveness due to counter-training."

"Well, the rest of the teams are pretty good, and Team Seven is the obligitory best and worst, but maybe we should switch those three teams around a little?" Tsume suggested.

"Really, I don't see how Seven has both the best and worst." Hiashi finally spoke again. "Sasuke Uchiha might be this year's Rookie, but is Uzumaki really the worst? After seeing what I saw last night, it's highly unlikely, and even then, one doesn't just spontaneously start using a kekkai genkei like that."

They all thought that over for a moment, but Sarutobi held up his hand. "Honestly, I would prefer those two be on a team as is. They get along rather well outside of class, though they try to hide it."

"Really?" Shikaku drawled.

"Indeed. Naruto thought it would be a great prank on the village if he, of all people, befirended Sasuke." Sarutobi responded with a bite of a laugh. "That and Iruka told me that Naruto somewhat requested it."

"There's also the matter of actual sabotage of his marks, and the fact that no one could understand why Uzumaki couldn't do things. Well, that, or they just didn't want to." Hiashi put in. "The third member that is on Team Seven has the absolute opposite problem as he does. She has barely any chakra, but some of the best control seen in a decade, where as he has absolutely no control and more chakra than several of us combined. No doubt due to his little problem."

"Which is odd, all things considered, his mother never had that much chakra." Inoichi added as well.

"Different time of sealing, I would assume." Shikaku suggested. "She became the second when she was a teen. He was, what, not even a day old?"

"Well, regardless, how should we rotate the teams around? Rotate a single member?" Sarutobi asked, puffing "Shift the girls around a bit, I suppose. Sakura to Team Eight, Hinata to Team Ten, and Ino to Team Seven?"

Everyone agreed on that and they went about naming the team leaders for all of them, suggestions went back and forth, but once again, they were called to a pause when they got Team Seven.

"Kakashi Hatake would make for a good sensei because of his Sharingan, and it would help Sasuke. Not to mention his connection with Naruto's parents as well." Sarutobi was the first to suggest, but Hiashi shook his head.

"If last night hadn't happened, I'd be one to agree, but due to Hatake's bad habits and the new training that Uzumaki needs to undergo, it would probably make for a bad combination. That and his training methods would be lost on the children. He's not one to guide directly, but to make hints at things."

"His own sensei trained him like that, is why." Sarutobi rejoined.

"And that would be good, if we were at war, but at the moment we are not." Hiashi pointed out. "That and he would probably enjoy the fact that he wouldn't have to fail a bunch of kids once again."

"Also, it'd probably be best if someone didn't train Sasuke in his Sharingan." Shikaku stated. "At least not until he believe it is only a tool to be used when absolutely needed."

"So, if not him, who? And some sensible suggestions, please." "Sarutobi sighed.

A few of them chuckled and shook their heads, but Inoichi thought it through. "What about Anko?"

"I thought I just asked for someone sensible." Sarutobi deadpanned.

"Hai, hai." Inoichi chuckled and held up his hand. "Seriously though. She has the work ethic for it, and as much as it pains me to admit it...my daughter could use something like that."

Shikaku thought it over, stroking his goatee absently while nodding along with his friend. "She's been looking for a real promotion too. I've been going over the files and it might just work out."

"As long as she finished with the boy on time so I can get him trained with his eyes, I have no complaint." Hiashi shrugged.

"About that, maybe it would be best for him to use his new skill to the best of his ability." Sarutobi pointed out. "Just get him to summon about half as many as he fully can and get them to learning. You might need to give him an example first though, otherwise he won't figure it out. Also, we might as well go with Anko on a experimental basis. Now, Team Eight? Originally I was going to suggest Yuuki Kurenai, since she actually requested to be on that team, but the reason she did has been moved to Ten."

"Then who was to be Team Ten's?" Tsume asked with a sniff.

"My son, Asuma, but he might actually work better with Kiba to cool him down and to work on Sakura's intelligence. Shikamaru doesn't need it, even if he got the second worst marks in the Academy." The Third said with a shrug.

"Agreed. Yuuhi would probably be able to motivate Shikamaru a bit once he grows up some more." Shikaku stated, shaking his head at how troublesome his son was proving to be.

"That leaves us with Team Nine then." Sarutobi puffed on his pipe once more before nodding. "Give them to Hamaki Mimura."

"That wraps everything up, Hokage-sama." Shikaku stated after a small silence.

"Excellent. I have to go over the new registrations with Mikado's nephew. Everyone is dismissed."

With that, the Ninja side of the council filed out, leaving Sarutobi by himself to enjoy another puff from his pipe. Wondering all the while what Naruto's picture would look like, no doubt he'd pull a prank of somesort for when the picture was taken. "Ah, to be a child again..." Sarutobi chuckled and slowly walked out as well, glad that this headache with Mizuki was officially over now.

* * *

Naruto snorted to himself, walking away from Konohamaru and his closet-pervert of a sensei, Ebisu. "Lessee, got my picture and info done. Had lunch. Told that closet pervert what's what." Naruto ticked things off with his finger, tapping his chin as he looked around. "What the hell. I might as well just head back. They're probably lookin' for me or something."

It was an odd sensation to the boy, knowing that he had a family, even if it was an adopted one. But hey, might as well enjoy it while it lasted, after all, nothing to good to be true stayed as long as someone wanted it to.

A few minutes later, Naruto found himself back at the Hyuuga compound. He almost went back to his old apartment without realizing it too, but came to the conclusion that '_Hey, I don't live here anymore. I totally forgot for a second._' He was pleasently surprised when he was greeted outside of the compound with a hello instead of angry and hatefilled eyes.

"Sorry I'm late. Was out showing Konohamaru some things." Naruto said with a shrug.

"You know Hokage-sama's Grandson?" The gate guard asked, blinking suddenly.

"Sorta. Met him today. He was callin' me 'Boss' all mornin'. Guess I'm his rival now or somethin'." Naruto shrugged again and walked past the Hyuuga member. "Oh, and he hates that, by the way, if you see him, just call 'im by his name, not by that weird-ass title." Naruto snickered. "Not like a kid like that knows what hate really is." Naruto concluded somberly.

"Indeed." The second guard laughed gently. "Hyuuga-sama is ooking for you. I believe it's time to start your taijutsu training."

"Sweet! Thanks!" From somewhat to depressed to cheerful because of a couple words. Maybe the boy was bi-polar? Both guards shrugged as they watched Naruto run off, in search of Hiashi.

A couple minutes later, Hiashi was staring at Naruto who was standing beside his two daughters. Even after seeing the clothing from the night before, that was at night and a little harder to see. Out in the middle of the day in that bright orange however? It hurt the Clan Patriarch's eyes something fierce. "Remind me to give you some money to buy new clothing." Hiashi stated simply.

"Huh?" Naruto asked. "Me? What's wrong with orange?" The blue eyed boy blinked in confusion at that.

"You stand out." Hiashi pointed out.

"If I stood out, why was I able to paint Hokage Mountain all over yesterday without being caught until just before I finished...by myself?" Naruto asked back with a foxy grin.

Hanabi just stared at the boy that was barely taller than she was. Was he crazy? Talking back to Father like that? No, he must be a step past crazy and certifiably insane!

"...Point." Hiashi gave it away with a small sigh. "However, please take off the jacket, it hurts my eyes."

"Yes sir." Naruto grinned and unzipped the bulky jacket, bundling it up and throwing it over to the house, not caring that it landed just short. Underneath, he was wearing a plain black tanktop, but the surprsing thing was really how small the boy was. That jacket was bulky on him, but underneath, he had a smaller frame, as if it was meant to hide something...like some of those scars on his arms and shoulders. "So, what you want me to do?"

"First, you will need to activate your eyes, the Byakugan. Like you did last night. Just focus Chakra to your eyes." Hiashi spoke and Naruto did as he was told. "Excellent. Now...you will need watch as my two daughters show you the basic forms." He gestured to both of them as Hinata and Hanabi moved apart and started to slowly run through a beginner Kata n the Gentle Fist style.

Naruto watched, his eyes taking in everything, though he was starting to get a little unnerved at the fact that he could see the wal that he knew was behind him...and the fact that little blue lines seemed to run through everyone's bodies now. As he watched the two girls go through their forms, the boy decided to walk around them to try and get more of a feeling of it until the two stopped their practice once they were done.

"Now, do you think you can do what you were shown?" Hiashi asked.

"Probaby not!" Naruto said sheerfuy and honestly.

The two girls winced.

Hiashi let out a bark of a laugh. "Then practice until you do like everything in life. Hokage-sama has given permission for you to learn at an advanced rate however."

"Huh? What ya mean?" Naruto blinked confused.

"Father?" Hinata asked.

Hanabi stayed silent.

Hiashi nodded again and looked at Naruto. "Last night, the_Bushinjutsu_ that you used, _Kage Bunshin_, correct?"

"Er, yeah." Naruto looked confused and then crossed his arms, his eyes closed while he was thinking. "Iruka-sensei didn't really explain why they don't teach that at the Academy. It was a lot easier to use, y'know?"

"Really?"

"Well, I guess he said something about most people gettin' sick or something when using it...but I don't understand. I didn't get sick, I'm just fine." Naruto complained

Hanabi snorted at just how dense the boy was and Hinata started to push her index fingers together. Hiashi gave his daughters a small look and they wilted under his glare.

"Naruto, best not to think about such things. Now, why don't you make some _Kage Bunshin_and get them to practicing the forms." Hiashi said with a small sigh.

"Huh. Okay." Naruto shrugged and made a single cross shaped handseal and called out his technique. About twenty clones popping into view, oddly enough though, five of them were in the smoke longer and ended up coming out as female, though their clothing seemed to be altered to have bras.. "You heard the man, get into gear...except you five." Naruto blinked at a quarter of his clones and stared. "What gives?"

"Aw, come on, Boss. Think of it as practice." One of the girls complained.

Naruto just stared at the girl that spoke for a moment before looking at Hiashi again. "Is that always supposed to happen? They kept giving me back talk last night while I was learning too."

"Hey! You're the one that invented this jutsu." A second of the girls yelled in mid stance.

"So?" He yelled back.

The Hyuuga family were just staring. Incomprehension written on their normally stoic faces.

"So! Uhh...I hadn't thought that far ahead..." The second trailed off and blinked.

"Think of it as Chakra control, boss!" One of the male clones called out. "Besides, we look good as chicks, you gotta admit that." He leered at a female clone.

Naruto shook his head and palmed his face as two of the girls stomped over and both punched the male clone until he was bruised and bleeding. Then one of them gave a kick that was strong enough to disperse the clone. "Stupid idiot." One of the other male's muttered. "Never piss of a girl, even if it's yourself."

"That doesn't make much sense you know." The original pointed out.

"Boss, we're all you." Another clone rejoined airily. "Think about what that says about your own mind."

"Oh, shut up and get back to practice." Naruto grumbled before looking back at all three Hyuuga whom were just staring at him. "What?"

"Ah...uhh..." Hanabi blinked, at a loss of what to say for once. No insult coming to mind.

Hinata's face went beet red as she looked out at the veritable sea of Naruto. Her mind working into overtime at the though of just what her stalker crush could do.

Hiashi, on the other hand, just continued to stare, almost in wonder. It was a probably a side effect of the mass amounts of Chakra that Naruto had just forced into the clones. "Can I have one of your clones come with me to show you why I'm doing this?"

"Sure." Naruto began to make the seal but one of the girls beat him to it, creating her own _Kage Bunshin_. "Hey, I was supposed to do that."

"Well, you were to slow, so nyah." The girl gave him a red-eye and pushed her tongue out at him. "Well, go on!" The female clone said to the newest female clone. "Go see what needs to be done."

"Sure thing Boss!" The girl snapped off a salute and bounded over to Naruto and the Hyuuga members. "What can I do for ya?"

Hiashi just stared at Naruto again for a moment. "Well, we'll see how this works then. Come along. Hanabi, you too." He beckoned his youngest over. "Hinata, start giving out corrections to the clones."

Naruto's newest female clone of a clone went with the youngest Hyuuga and said Hyuuga's father over towards the house. "Alright, what are we doin'?" It asked after the three rounded the corner.

"You are going to play a quick game of Janken with my youngest here." Hiashi stated, as if it was the most serious thing in the world.

The strawberry bonde clone just stared for a moment before looking at Hanabi with a look that asked if her father was crazy. Hanabi just responded with a shrug and held out her hand. They both came out as paper and decided to have another round where Naruto's clone won with Paper to Rock.

"Aright, now to show this works for Naruto, will you disperse, please?" Hiashi asked politely while the clone just shrugged and then disappeared into a poof of smoke.

"Father? What was the point of that?" Hanabi asked quietly as they walked back around the corner towards the courtyard.

"You'll see, child." Hiashi stated as they finally rounded the corner back into sight and watched as one of the male clones started to snicker once he saw Hanabi. "Ah, it would seem it did work."

"What worked?" Naruto asked, cluelessly while he was in the middle of trying to do a basic kata.

"You don't know?" Hiashi asked with a small frown. More of the clones were snickering, both at their 'Boss' and at Hanabi. "It would seem your clones understand."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, looking at Hiashi and then Hanabi for a moment. "What you say we go two out of three, huh?" Naruto asked as if he was the one that went out and had the game.

"N-N-Naruto..." Hinata said lightly.

"Yeah, Hinata?"

"You never played a game of...whatever." She said gently, managing to not stutter.

"Yeah, I did, it was a game of Jank..." Naruto trailed off as realization came to him. "That was one of my clones...and I knew she played a game and won after the second round." Naruto suddenly looked down at himself as he stopped the Kata and frowned in though. It took a moment but he brightened considerably. "That was so cool!"

"Paper always beats out a useless rock!" One of the male clones cheered.

"Anyway." Hiashi said with a faint chuckle. I'll leave you three to practice. "Hanabi, Hinata, move to your next set of forms. Help Naruto with his progress everytime you take a break." He then turned to the boy of the group. "Naruto. Every half an hour, I want you disperse your clones. Be careful about that as I am not sure what would happen if you had them all disappear at once." Hiashi waited until he got a nod from the original Naruto and smiled a little at the three of them. "Excellent. I shal see you all at the main table, later tonight. Send your cousin Neji in to see me the moment he gets back from that mission of his."

"Hai, Father." Hinata spoke.

With that, Hiashi walked off, leaving the three children to practice on their own. He had paperwork to do, and a bit of money to gather so he wouldn't have to look at that orange eyesore any longer than he had to. The man nodded to himself as he glanced over his shoulder at the three children. Maybe his family wouldn't be so fractured anymore...

* * *

**Notes from the Author:**

So, yeah, book three. It'll be both less serious than the others, but a bit more serious in the political area of things. I'm leaving that kind of stuff for this story.

As for the less serious aspect, well, Naruto's crazy clones have always been entertaining to me, especially after I read a story the night before this chapter was posted about how Naruto got one of his female clones pregnant and it didn't disappear. This idea had some merit in the comedy aspect, so I decided to go with something similar to that and give Naruto's clones a bit more sentience. They're gonna joke, screw around, and generally try and lighten any situation I force these people into. I'm not the greatest at writing Comedy, so I hope this turns out okay. As well, yes, I'm going to go with super learning Naruto, but he's still an idiot...he'll just be a well prepared idiot. In comparison between the two female Naruto's in the first two Books, this one isn't all there in the head when it comes to certain things like that. Though, he was treated middle of the road when compared to the other two as well. Not as well off as Book 2 Naruto, but no way near as bad as Book 1 Naruto. To put it one way, Naruto in Book 1 is treated like Fanon Naruto, Book 3 Naruto here is treated like Canon Naruto...though, it'll become a bit better a lot faster.

Also, yes, I've changed Team Seven and the others around for this story. Kakashi's got a main point in the other two, and he's not as needed in this one. I also think Anko might actually end up being in a better position as a sensei for the team once things really start rolling around.

Finally, for more details on these stories, please see to my main profile for more information on how things are going to be posted.

Thank you and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Book 3.


	2. Damn Clones

"You're all crazy, you know that?" Naruto pointed at his clones with a demanding finger.

"Boss." One of them called back, "We're you, so that means you're just as crazy as we are."

"Oh shut it." Naruto grumbled. It was way to early in the morning for this nonsense. "Besides, I don't want to hear that from you."

"Why not?" The clone

"Cause I ain't a girl!" Naruto snapped and growled at the female clone.

"Recon and an altered form for fighting in case shit goes down." The female clone rejoined and gave the original a haphazard wave. "Now if you'll excuse me, some of us have to practice."

"What do you think I'm doing?" Naruto grumbled back in response.

The strawberry blond boy just shook his head and sighed. It'd been only two days since he had moved into the Hyuuga Compound and he was already starting to wonder if learning this _Bunshinjutsu _was worth the hassle. Hiashi was always shooting him odd looks whenever he summoned his clones. Was something really that freaky with them? Sure, the learning part was pretty awesome, and none of his clones had so much as started a prank while he had been training since they were all training just as hard as he was. Naruto wasn't quite up to Hinata or Hanabi's level of the Jyuuken since his control was no where near as good, that and combined with his usual inelegant brawler style, it was rather weird to watch.

Of course, that's not to say it was ineffective. What he lacked up in control, he more than made up in pure brute force. The combat dummies were a testament to that, since instead of quick strikes with very small holes from the pulse of chakra, Naruto was blowing full sized holes through them. It got to the point that Naruto declared the training lackluster and started using his own clones as target practice.

Without even realizing it, over the past two days, his own offense and defense had grown exponentially. Of course, the biggest reason he hadn't noticed was because his own technique was driving him crazy.

"Stupid clones." Naruto muttered as he walked towards the main dining room, leaving about fifty cones altogether, fourty of which were sparring while the other ten were still practicing various methods of chakra control that Hiashi and Neji had shown him. Thankfully as well, his own clones could make a couple of their own clones and whenever one made a decent amount of practice, summoned and dispersed it, improving the lot with the memories.

He still hadn't been able to attempt the wall walking exercise because he didn't want to damage any of the walls, especially after that first attempt, so instead he stubbornly cut to the water walking portion. Even Hanabi knew this part and she was just barely starting the Academy. It was almost insulting. He had frustratingly asked Hiashi why they didn't teach this kind of thing in the Academy and was simply told one word.

"Politics."

Naruto's response was swift, decisive, and of course, rude: "Fuck politics."

After that declaration the night before, Naruto summoned even more clones to find out what exactly he could do with them and how far away they could operate.

All of this was done with the Byakugan constantly activated so he could get used to the sensation of seeing almost 360 degrees around his own body. He activated it in the morning when he woke up and only deactivated it when he finally went to bed. A full two days of a doujutsu using his chakra had also managed to slightly improve his control. Which was more and more noticeable in the fact that he no longer burnt grass into ash instead of trying to float it, or at least not right away.

"Naruto-sama." A voice called out, snapping him from his reverie.

"Yeah?" Naruto blinked, turning and looking at the person talking to him. "Oh, hey Hazumi. Thanks for helpin' me move and all that."

"Of course, Naruto-sama." The man said with a gentle smile and a half bow. "Breakfast has been prepared."

"I keep forgetting about that." Naruto blinked a few times, he was used to scrounging money up to try and buy food for the next day. "Thanks again Hazumi." Naruto waved cheerfully and continued on his way.

Breakfast was later in the day than what Naruto was used to, also because it was the first thing he tried to do when he woke up, but the last few days he had been able to get in some training before it because he wasn't exhausted from not always being unable to eat. It was kind of intriguing in a way to find out people actually lived like this.

It was also a quiet affair, but that was nothing new to him. Before this he always ate breakfast alone and didn't even feel like talking to even himself.

Of course, once breakfast was over with, the talking did begin anew.

"Naruto, how's your training going so far?" Hiashi asked neutrally.

"Ah. I'm not up the Hinata or Hanabi's standards." Naruto spoke sheepishly, but suddenly looked a bit more cheerful. "I hope to be there soon though, I don't think it'll take to long. Probably a couple weeks or so." Naruto grinned a little at that.

"And your control?"

"Uhm, still burning the grass, though I can manage to stand in water, not quite on top yet. Skipped the wall walking part personally. Got some cl..." he trailed off and blanched a little.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked with a bare stutter.

"Note to self." Naruto suddenly declared. "Having the memories of being eaten alive by a giant snake is not pleasant. Also, using trees in Training Ground 44 is a bad idea to learn how to tree walk."

Hiashi just looked at his newest charge for a moment, so did everyone around the room for a moment, most of them not fully knowing what Naruto was talking about, especially the younger.

"Isn't that area forbidden from useage to those not of Chuunin and higher?" Neji suddenly asked, giving Naruto a faint look.

"It is?" Naruto frowned slightly. "Then why did Nakamura-sensei send me there for a mock retrieval a few years ago? Not that I could find anything for a couple ho..." Naruto trailed off as he caught sight of Hiashi clenching his fists under the table. "...Oh. I think I understand now." Naruto was suddenly very quiet.

"He sent you in there?" Hinata gasped at that. "Everyone else was sent around Hokage Tower." She was outraged.

"Well. No big deal." Naruto said with a shrug. "I'm used to that sort of thing really."

"I do believe I will have to talk to Hokage-sama about this and find out what other things have been done over the years." Hiashi stated simply, his anger abating.

"I've still got all my basic ninjutsu scrolls if you want 'em. The only one I could really comprehend was the _Henge_, but I can't do it normally unless I add frilly stuff to it." Naruto frowned "It was really hard at first to do, but I finally got the substance part down, the different feeling of clothing was also a bit annoying. You wouldn't believe how hard it was for me to find some silk I could use to compare." Another round of stares, this one time most intently from Neji. "What?" This time Naruto was starting to get annoyed. "How else do you expect my clones to know they actually needed a bra when they do that?"

Sudden silence was dragged through the room as Naruto tilted his head to the side, wondering exactly what it was he was doing wrong. No one in the room bothered to inform the boy that a _Henge_ wasn't supposed to be that substantial.

"That reminds me." Neji suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. "My squad has told me that the rumor around town is that you were the last pace in the Academy. Why is that?" He was genuinely curious to see why the fate of one such as this had changed so dramatically.

"Can't do _Bunshin no Jutsu _to save my life." Naruto said with a shrug. "I've failed 3 times, if you include this recent attempt. Still can't do it. Stupid clones." Naruto pouted and pushed his chair back a little. "I don't see why it's so hard. _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ is tons easier. Makes me wonder what _Bunshin_ _no Jutsu_ is really like."

"Ah, it's pretty useless really." Neji spoke, trying to hide his astonishment at how Fate could be so fickle with a person.

"Really? Then why is called _Bunshin no Jutsu?_ You'd figure that they'd call it _Kage Bunshin_. Shadows are pretty useless, aren't they?" Naruto spoke, once again showing his ignorance at what some ninja could do.

"The Nara clan can use their Shadows to kill people." Hanabi pointed out bluntly.

"Really? Shikamaru can do something like that? That's...kinda cool." Naruto blinked and grinned, "Guess the name works then."

"Indeed." Hiashi said resolutely. "Now, do you know how many clones you've got active right now?"

"Ah...no, I lost count after about two hundred." Naruto said sheepishly once again as he grabbed his dishes, intent on cleaning up after himself. "I can call them back and find out if you want?"

"No, go about doing what it is you're doing." Hiashi said with a nod. "I'll be going to see Hokage-sama later."

"Ah, if you want I can get you in earlier?"

"No, it's fine, I have an appointment."

"Appointment? You need those?" Naruto frowned. "Huh. Wonder why he lets me just walk in. I'll have to ask him that. Well, I'ma clean up and get back to practice. If not I'll never hear the end of it." Naruto grumbled as he sped off out of the dining room with his dishes, once again leaving the Hyuuga family in a bit of shock.

"Uzumaki sure knows how to stir things up." Neji snorted, shaking his head.

"H-He does his best, no matter what." Hinata said softly.

"At least he's not wearing that jacket anymore." Hanabi added.

"I doubt he'll ever wear the soft hues we prefer as the Hyuuga clan. Nevertheless, he truly can be a menace, even in orange." Hiashi nodded in agreement, pushing his own chair back. "Neji, you are to oversee his training every day when the both of you are here." He said straight to his nephew. "He is a quick study thanks to his clones, but his attention will wander unless he remains interested."

"That might be why he scored so low when we were in the same class." Neji mused, half aware that his cold facade wasn't showing.

"Sabotage and having done most of the work previously are detriments to anyone when it comes to paperwork. He could've been a ninja before even you if it wasn't for the ignorance that festers itself in most below Jounin rank." Hiashi nodded in agreement. "You are all dismissed."

The rest of the Hyuuga family nodded to their Patriarch, most of them having been silent throughout the entire exchange. Most of the Branch family had been overly jealous about a random brat, the Uzumaki no less, having been entered into their family. That was until they found out exactly what he had been through and had actually spent time with him. Of course, all refrained from mentioning or showing them their seals, both under Hiashi's request, and not wanting to see the reaction of the usualy cheerful boy.

Of course, even under the watchful eyes of the Hyuuga, Naruto could keep up his little act.

However, even Naruto didn't notice that the act was becoming less and less as he was starting to smile genuinely.

* * *

The beginning the new week had Naruto finally at the Academy once again. He was one of the first, along with Hinata and Sasuke in the classroom. As the room slowly started to fill up, there were two notable absences, which was nothing new really. They always arrived near last and made a loud show of it.

Naruto was talking quietly with Hinata while Sasuke himself sat at the same desk quietly brooding and looking out the window, though keeping a trained ear on listening in on what they were talking about, most of it was unimportant, but he did catch something about him living with her now.

Of course, several people had asked what Naruto was doing here since failures weren't allowed. He just jerked his thumb at the headband on his forehead and promptly ignored them, intent on talking to Hinata about the Jyuuken of all things.

Sasuke's ears perked up once again and he almost turned when Hinata asked how his _Bunshin _experiments were doing.

"Ah. I've got..." Naruto trailed off, counting on his fingers. "Ah, yeah. It's a light day today, restin' up and all that. Only about a hundred. Got a couple helpin' the Old Man with some paper work."

"Paperwork?" Hinata frowned.

"Well, of course. How else am I gonna take that big hat without finding out what I need to do?" Naruto asked, genuinely confused about the question. It was obvious he was going to become Hokage, wasn't it? "I don't really like the robes much, but that hat is awesome." Naruto nodded resolutely.

"What kind of paperwork is it?"

"Classified." Naruto stated resolutely.

That was when Sasuke interjected. "How are you allowed to go through paperwork?" He turned towards the two, looking past Hinata and towards Naruto.

Before Naruto could put in his answer, the outburst from the door proclaimed that Sakura and Ino had finally shown up. Arguing with each other who was first and who got to sit next to their Sasuke-kun, though neither noticed that Hinata was already sitting next to him. Of course, Naruto was of almost no importance whatsoever.

"I'll tell you later." Naruto spoke softly, not wanting to be heard. Even Hinata didn't know he was friends with the Uchiha. "Though, I do know our teams. I just found out a few minutes ago."

"How the hell...?" Sasuke muttered, looking back out the window when Ino and Sakura both stomped up, having come to some sort of agreement.

"We're going to both sit next to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura declared in a bit of a yell.

"So, move it!" Ino declared just as loudly, glaring for all she was worth.

"What's so special about Sasuke?" Naruto asked just as loudly, mainly for the benefit of the entire class. "He's just a teme."

Both girls just glared even harder at Naruto but they were cut off when Hinata spoke. "Shut up and go away." She said with a hint of actual Hyuuga upbringing. "You hurt my ears more than Naruto-kun's jacket hurts my Father's eyes."

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto whined while the entire classroom looked on in awe, wondering what happened to shy, timid Hinata they all knew. Most of them had forgotten she was even a Hyuuga.

"It's the truth, Naruto-kun." Hinata chided gently, suddenly very happy to not stutter his name twice in a row. A week being surrounded by a veritable sea of Naruto of both genders had done wonders for her since she didn't want to disappoint him. "I thought you got rid of it."

"But...it's orange." He said clutching his jacket at the chest. "You can't deny how awesome this color is."

Sakura and Ino were both flabbergasted at how they were just being utterly ignored now. Sakura even more so since she was used to Naruto practically pawing at her for a date or something. It was even more odd when they continued their conversation as if neither of the other girls existed.

Suddenly, Naruto cut himself off mid sentence and he looked straight at Ino for a moment. "You better not screw things up today." He said with a note of finality before looking at Hinata. "Next time I get the chance to choose, remind me to pick you instead."

"Wait, what?" Sakura, Hinata, Ino and Sasuke all asked at once.

"My team, of course." Naruto blinked at them. "Sasuke and Ino are on it. D'uh." He stated it as if it was more simple than water being wet. "Huh, I wonder who this Anko lady is. Stupid clones not getting all the information."

Everyone had a collective '_What the Hell?_' going on in their minds as they looked at the strawberry blond boy. Well, everyone but Hinata. "So, it dispersed?"

"Nah, summoned another to get me half the information." Naruto said with a sigh, pushing his chair back and doing his new technique for all to see. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."_he stated as if it was an everyday occurrence and five clones popped up out of nowhere. "Dammit, I was trying for one." Naruto whined when he was done.

"Yeah, Boss?" The female spoke up.

"Need one of you to disperse to reprimand the clone in the Tower, he didn't get me all the info I needed."

"Not it." The girl said and stuck her tongue out at the four male clones.

"You're the same one that's always speaking out and being a jerk, aren't you?" Naruto asked with a sigh of annoyance.

"If by that, you mean that I'm you and you're an annoyance? Then yes." The girl said as she suddenly rounded on one of the clones and struck it in the throat with a Jyuuken strike.

"Bitch." Naruto gagged for a moment as the memory hit him.

"What? You said reprimand. That'll show him good." The female said with a shrug, though she did rub her own throat.

"That didn't mean you needed to explode his throat and have all of us feel that!" Naruto shouted. "Oh, screw it. Go do something and keep yourself busy, everyone's staring at us."

"That's because you're a freakshow, Boss." The female said with a cheerful grin. "Come on boys. I found a perfect spot to try something out." She tried to hide it, but she was almost leering at her clones and Naruto had a sudden awful thought.

"Only training, otherwise get." Naruto growled out. "If you give me any more form of mental scarring, I'm banning _that _jutsu from use."

"No fun at all." The female clone said airily. She then looked at Sasuke and Ino for a moment and then at everyone else in the class. "Here's a hint, children! Teamwork is the key, now don't screw things up." She cackled and then ran off.

"Boss." One of the three remaining clones started to speak. "You're fucked up, you know that?"

"What does that say about you?" Naruto snarked back. "I made you."

The three glanced at each other and sighed dejectedly. "We're fucked."

"Yep."

"Totally."

"Get out. Iruka-sensei'll be here any moment." The original ordered.

"Later Boss." The three threw off a jaunty salute and chased off after the female.

The entire classroom was utterly devoid of voices, all in an awkward and staring silence. Hinata was smiling behind her hands while everyone else had a stare. There was even something odd with Sasuke as he wasn't staring at Naruto but at the door and then out the window, his voice finally breaking the silence as his voice cracked oddly. "Naruto?" Sasuke finally started to speak.

"Yeah, teme?"

"Your clone just flashed me."

"..."

"I'm serious."

Naruto went straight faced as he looked Sasuke dead in the eye. "I apologize for the mental horror of which you have just witnessed. I suggest that we go hunt down and kill her."

"Agreed." Sasuke said with a faint tilt of his head, though his cheeks were a bit red.

Naruto finally turned to the rest of the classroom, ignoring Ino and Sakura's sudden indignant rage. "Does anyone else want to know why I'm here or was that display mentally scarring enough? I can call some more for everyone's entertainment and let the rules drop if you really would like." He twisted his gaze towards Sakura and Ino at that last part before finally adding. "They don't have my self control."

Everyone went white except for Kiba; who was laughing like an utter madman.

Of course, that's when Iruka walked in, pausing at the door when he saw Kiba struggling to breathe from laughing so hard.

"Alright everyone, sit down, shut up, and listen up!" Iruka said as he strode to the front of the room, breaking out with a bit of a grin now. "Kiba, if you can't control yourself, you can step outside."

"S-s-sorry I-Iruka-sensei." Kiba wheezed, holding onto his desk as his laughs faded to snickers while Akamaru barked merrily. "Just saw something...funny s'all." Kiba looked at Sasuke and started laughing madly again for another minute.

"Well, once Kiba's done giving himself an anyeurism, I'll announced your new assignments." Iruka said with a faint smile.

"Sensei?" Ami called out from the other side of the class. "Where's Mizuki-sensei?"

"Ahh, he's had a pretty bad accident and his career as a ninja, even as an instructor has ended." Iruka said with a completely straight face, not even looking anywhere near Naruto as he spoke. "Anyway, I'll announce the teams now since Kiba's finally calmed down and both Sakura and Ino seemed to have found a seat.

This got a bit of a laugh from everyone as Iruka started listing off the teams with Naruto being obviously correct when it came to Team Seven, which was a bit shocking to several students, most of all Ino, especially since she had really expected to be on a team much like her Father had been. Though of course, that didn't stop her from cheering and mocking Sakura. The rest of the announcements had proceeded smoothly, with each team being told their respective sensei would be coming to pick them up just after lunch.

The room cleared pretty quickly, though Naruto stopped at Sasuke. "Ready to go a killin'?"

"I've been ready for years." Sasuke responded coolly which caused Naruto to wince.

"Tell ya what. I'll buy lunch too?" Naruto asked.

"Fine."

"Alright. Ino, come on, I'm buying us all lunch."

Ino gave him a suspicious look before nodding. "Fine. But I want to help hunt down your clone."

"Sweet. I don't think the two of us could do it otherwise." Naruto exclaimed.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, she always beats my ass whenever we spar. She seems to be a constant personality when it comes to my clones. Don't know what's with that though." Naruto shrugged. "She backtalks too. Stupid clones." Naruto grumbled once again, it quickly becoming his new catchphrase.

"You're going to have to explain that." Sasuke stated.

"Well, you know how I was always failing my _Bunshin_ test, thus failing for the year a few times?"

"I've been told." Sasuke said neutrally since Ino was around them.

Naruto went on, ignoring that one minor fact. "Well, it has to do with my clearance on being able to go through some classified files." Naruto said, giving Sasuke a bit of a look before turning. "It also has to do with the real reason why Mizuki didn't show up."

"Ah." Sasuke said with a nod, having been told late last week after trying to find Naruto.

"Am I going to be told any of this?" Ino suddenly demanded from behind them.

"Ino. You're a gossip queen." Naruto deadpanned catching a snort from Sasuke. "Though, I'm surprised your Father didn't say a thing."

"I know Mizuki did something stupid, that's about it." Ino admitted.

"Alright, tell you what. I'll tell you at the meeting with our new sensei. First, let's go eat and then go hunt down and brutally murder a female clone of me." Naruto continued on blithely as he lead the way to Ichiraku's. "Hey Old Man Ichiraku! Ayame-neesan!"

"Ah, Naruto-kun. How's your day been? Haven't seen you this last week." Teuchi asked while whiping his hands on his ever present cloth.

"Ah, yeah." Naruto responded, half looking at his two new team members. "I'm livin' at the Hyuuga Compound now. They got me trainin' and eatin' there, haven't had much time to stop by." He said cheerfully, trying to ignore the look he was getting from Ino.

"Oh, yes. Hokage-sama stopped by to tell us that." Ayame stated from where she was next to the pots.

"Yeah, guess I'm a Hyuuga now, dunno about my name though, so I'll stick with Uzumaki until I'm told otherwise." Naruto said with a shrug. "The Byakugan is pretty neat though."

"How good are you with it?" Sasuke asked, finally falling into a bit of a relaxed state, still ignoring Ino.

"Ah, dunno really. Hiashi says I'm doin' okay, but you can never tell with him if he's giving a compliment or just stating something. I can keep it active all day, can't sleep with it on though, it's really weird." Naruto said with another shrug. "I'll have my usual Miso with Pork, just two today, and whatever they're ordering."

"Tomato Ramen." Sasuke said, as if it was a regular thing.

"Ah...what's good?" Ino asked.

"Everything." Naruto and Teuchi spoke at the same time, sharing a grin with Naruto who continued. "Ichiraku's is the best ramen anywhere."

"Ah, well, whatever you think is best then, Naruto." Ino deferred to him with a small frown. She wanted to watch her figure around Sasuke, but her Father was adamant about eating properly now that she had graduated, but that was what she'd already been doing...wasn't it?

"An Uzumaki Special, then." Teuchi said with a twinkle in his eyes. "Half an order, since you look like you're half starving yourself though." There was a faint hint of disapproval in his eyes.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in agreement.

"I've been eating more than ever before since I moved in with the Hinata's family." Naruto proudly declared. "No more old rice in the morning for me, it's so great."

"I guess that means you'll be quitting your two other jobs?" Teuchi asked.

"I might, yeah." Naruto nodded, catching but ignoring the two stray looks of confusion from Ino and Sasuke. '_Oops. Forgot to tell him that. Oh well._' Naruto shrugged it off.

Soon enough, the ramen was up, Ino's wide eye look at her special bowl of Ramen filled halfway with a load of vegetables and meats, all seemingly haphazardly piled in, but still seemed artful in a way. Sasuke ate in relative silence once he got over his annoyance, and Naruto happily ate the best food in the world.

Once they were done, they spent the rest of the hour tracking down the female clone of Naruto, constantly chasing her around the village until Sasuke finally managed to catch her with a Grand Fireball after being cornered by Ino and Naruto. Naruto had commented on how he thought being roasted alive was slightly better than being devoured by a snake.

After that, they found themselves back in the classroom as lunch was ending, everyone still showing up. Iruka being the last one and gave his students one last rousing speech. Though it was quickly interrupted by a loud smashing of one of the windows, a black ball of fabric spreading itself infront of the classroom and Iruka, emerging from it one purple haired woman clad in tan clothing and fishnet. The fabric proudly declaring the new occupant as one Anko Mitarashi, Beautiful and Single Kunoichi of the Leaf.

"Team Seven, with me!" She loudly declared, much to the sudden amazement of the entire classroom who were just staring at the outlandish woman.

"It's an adult, female Naruto!" One of the students declared. "Run for it!"

"Hey!" Naruto yelled resentfully.

"Anko." Iruka cut in behind the cloth. "You're early."

"I make up for Kakashi being late all the time." She said with a flippant wave of her hand, despite the fact that Iruka couldn't see it. "Anyway. Team Seven, front and center!"

Naruto shook his head and stood up along with Sasuke and Ino. "Well, at least I know who Anko is now." Naruto said in an aside to his team.

"She's crazier than you are." Sasuke murmured, suddenly stiffening as Anko reappeared behind him.

"What was that, kiddo?" Anko asked as she leaned down over his shoulder, holding a kunai to his throat.

"You're crazier than he is." Sasuke said dryly.

"Sasuke, I take back all the insults I've said over the past year." Naruto said with a look of awe. "That's ballsy."

Anko snorted and laughed, once again scaring the rest of the classroom. "I think I like you kids. Come on, up to the roof for a meet and greet." She formed a single seal and disappeared into a puff of smoke.

"We have got to learn that." Ino said with a grumble while Naruto nodded on.

Once they were out in the hallway, Sasuke stopped the two of them and looked both of them dead in the eye. "Remind me to keep my mouth shut next time." He shuddered absently while Naruto broke off into gales of laughter and Ino just stared for a moment, her vision of a perfect Sasuke shattering before her thanks to their crazy Jounin sensei.

Up on the roof, they waited for about half a minute before their sensei re-showed her face, chewing on a stick of Dango "Alright then. Like I said, meet and greet. Let's get to know each other a little. That good?"

"Sure." Naruto said with a shrug. "Why don't you go first then? GIve us a proper example and whatnot."

"You're smarter than you look." Anko eyed the orange clad boy. "Which isn't saying much, considering you're wearing orange."

"Seriously, what is with you people and dissing on orange?" Naruto started to complain before Ino slapped a hand over his mouth. "Mmf mrfle!"

"Naruto, shut it." Ino hissed.

"Hah." Anko snorted out a laugh and pulled a piece of dango off the stick. "Name's Anko Mitarashi. Toukubetsu Jounin, and you three are my going to be part of my promotion to full Jounin. Which means, unless you fuck up this test I'm going to give you, odds are you'll pass because I really want my promotion. I like my sensei, entertaining missions, and my previous job. I dislike jerks, cold and codgy bastards, and the general attitude of a good lot of civilians..."

"Here here!" Naruto cheered while interupting.

Anko snorted and continued on. "...My hobbies include tea ceremony and randomly doing jobs in T&I for fun. My dream is to pass my sensei in skill and abilities."

"Who's your sensei?" Ino finally asked.

"Orochimaru-sama, one of the three Sannin of the Leaf. He heads up T&I with my other boss, Ibiki."

"Oh, I've met him." Naruto nodded. "He's kinda cool for a pale, creepy lookin' guy."

"Naruto!" Ino bashed him on the head. "Respect your elders!"

Sasuke chose that moment to snort, loudly. "He calls Hokage-sama, Old Man, Ino."

Ino looked very appalled at that and Anko just started to cackle madly. "Alright, blondie, you're up."

"Ino Yamanaka, I like flowers and the family shop, Sasuke-kun, and upstaging Forehead...I mean, Sakura." Ino coughed delicately into one of her fists. "I dislike perverts, Naruto's _Oiroke no Jutsu_, and lazy people. Uhh, I don't really have many hobbies outside of tending the shop or attending the academy, and my dream is to take my Father's former job at T&I."

"Good luck with that." Anko nodded. "Uchiha, go."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sasuke Uchiha. I don't have many likes, I dislike a whole lot of things. Most of which is classified by the way." Sasuke paused after being hit behind the head by Naruto, giving the smaller boy a death glare. "Fine. I like tomatos and Naruto's pranks. I dislike my brother, sweet things, and..." he trailed off, looked at Anko oddly before continuing. "...stuff." he finished lamely. " I don't have any hobbies, and my dream, or rather ambition, is to revive my clan and bring my brother to justice."

"God luck with that. Itachi is a whole lot of powerful." Anko nodded resolutely. "Probably the second strongest ninja in the entire village outside of Hokage-sama."

"Seriously?" Naruto asked.

"Yep, I watched him beat sensei in a spar a week before he...well, you know." Anko finished lamely herself before looking at Naruto. "Pinky, your turn."

"It's strawberry, dammit." Naruto cursed before going on. "Naruto Uzumaki, or maybe Hyuuga, I dunno yet. I like pranks, ramen, my clones, watching Sasuke's reaction to some of my most awesome pranks ever..."

"The Mountain was a good one." Sasuke interjected

"True. It took me a while to do that too. I almost got away with it as well. Oh well." Naruto sighed before going on with his introduction. "I dislike liars, perverts, a good whole lot of the civilian populace since they try to cheat me on a regular basis, my stupid clones, and that rat faced bastard Mizuki." He snarled the silver haired man's name before going on. "Uhh, Hobbies, I guess...gardening and talking to the Old Man. Jyuuken's pretty fun too once you get the hang of it...My dream is pretty obvious, but since that's really a reality, I dunno what my dream is gonna be now."

"Oh?" Anko asked interestedly while also wondering why he both liked and disliked his own clones.

"Well, of course I'm going to become Hokage, it's obvious, isn't it?" Naruto asked wide eyed with a smile.

"Hah, good one kid." Anko said with another laugh.

"Well, I'm not done yet actually." Naruto continued to forestall Anko with a hand held up. "In the basis of getting to know each other, I'm going to share with everyone an S-class secret."

"Are you sure?" Anko suddenly asked. "I mean, it's not like they need to know.." she trailed off and looked at Naruto carefully.

"Half the team knowing isn't proper." Naruto stated simply.

"You've got guts, kid. Alright, crash course in classification. If you repeat to anyone what Naruto says, someone will hunt you down and kill you." Anko was suddenly deadly serious. "It might be me, it might be my sensei, it might even be Hokage-sama. Hell, it might even be your father, Ino. S and Double S class secrets are the highest within the village, with Double S being only known by the Hokage and a couple other people in the village."

"Yeah. Mine's only S-class considering any one over the age of seventeen probably remembers what happened." Naruto was speaking softly before going on. "Alright, History lesson time. Yay." Mock cheerful before going on. "October Tenth ring a bell?"

"Your birthday." Sasuke stated.

"Really?" Ino asked. "Huh, I didn't know that, I knew it was when the Kyuubi attacked."

"Right on both." Naruto was fake cheerful now. "Now, I just found out about this about a week ago, so excuse me if it sounds like I'm lying out my ass." His tone was still oddly happy and it was noticeable to even Ino that it was being forced. "Yondaime-sama didn't kill the Kyuubi, but sealed it in a newborn instead. Someone care to expand on that?"

Sasuke was staring rather wide-eyed at Naruto for a moment, rethinking what he'd gone through and compared it to Naruto in a new light.

Ino on the other hand, started to hyperventilate once she pieced together the small puzzle. "Oh. My. God." Ino stated, eyeing Naruto once again in a new light. "That's why Sakura's mom hates you!"

"Huh. I didn't know that." Naruto said with a small frown. "Well, nothing new. Anyway, if you wanna transfer teams, I'd understand." Naruto said with a shrug.

Ino seemed to actually think it over for a moment, glancing between Sasuke and Naruto before making an unladylike snort. "Like I'd give up a chance of being on Sasuke-kun's team. Besides, a kunai sealed in a scroll doesn't make the scroll a kunai, now does it?" Ino asked, almost rhetorically.

"Well. Shit." Anko said with a laugh. "Looks like I win after all. Shit, you know what? I'm not even gonna bother testing you guys."

"Wait, does that mean?" Ino asked.

"Congrats on becoming full fledged Genin." Anko said simply. "Before you had to go and ruin my test by showing an obvious sign of teamwork like that, I was supposed to try and scare you into a trying to fend for yourself and all that in my own test." Anko let out another bark of a laugh. "Normally there's about a one third pass rate within the teams that have recently graduated, though oddly enough, the best and worst team, which for all points of consideration is this one, almost always seems to pass."

"Really? Can you give an example?" Sasuke finally asked, breaking out of his own silence, preferring to shelve the Naruto plus Kyuubi information.

"The Sannin for one. Jiraiya, the Toad Sage was considered the dead last of the village and now he's considered one of the most powerful." Anko nodded. "Well, since we're done all this, let's head out to training ground three and we can show each other what we're good with."

"Hey, you can use that as the official means of testing." Naruto pointed out. "It'd be a valid excuse. Besides, there's no way we could fail anyway."

"Alright brats! To Training Ground Three!" Anko cheered and made a quick hand sign, disappearing once again into a puff of smoke.

The three new Genin of Team Seven shared a resolute look. "We really need to learn that."

"Totally."

"Yep."

* * *

Training Ground Three was one of the more simplistic training grounds, but it was also the most well known and sought after. It was also a mainstay of whomever got to lead Team Seven throughout the years, Starting with the First and Second training the Third and his team in the same training ground after it had been built, then the Third training the Sannin when they were young, to Jiraiya training his own team which included the Fourth. To even the Fourth training his own team which had included one of the most well known Ninja in the entire village, which included the craziest and oddest Uchiha in known memory, known for pranks and nonsense than the usual stoic nature of a traditional Uchiha.

"Alright. Since most of my techniques involve assassination or lethel blows, we'll forgo my awesome abilities until you get to see them in combat." Anko stated with a feral grin. "So, who wants to go first?"

"All my fancy moves are clan techniques." Ino said in a small voice. "My taijutsu is better than any of the Academy grads, but that's not saying much really."

"And since they don't train in Genjutsu, for some stupid reason, all you've got is your body jack."

"Pretty much." Ino nodded. "And it's called _Shintenshin no Jutsu_."

"Well, use it on me." Anko shrugged. "See how long you can last before I shove you out."

Ino nodded and both Naruto and Sasuke stood back. Naruto because there was no way in hell he wanted Ino to see what his mind was like, and Sasuke because he actually wanted to watch. Ino flew threw thew few handseals, making an odd seal at the end and called out the technique. Ino's body went limp for about half a second before she was shoved back out, managing to catch herself from falling flat on her ass.

"Not bad." Anko said with a nod, "You'll need more chakra to use that properly against a Jounin, if you could keep that up to two seconds, it'd be enough to turn the tide in a combat situation."

"It's only the basic version. Any damage done to the body I'm in gets sent back to my own body as well." Ino sighed.

"Well, we'll just need to learn some apprehension techniques. Uchiha, you're a go."

"Second best Taijutsu in the Academy, outside of Hinata Hyuuga, but she's got no backbone most of the time so I usually come first." Sasuke stated blatantly. "Also, probably because Shikamaru doesn't give a damn."

"All Nara are like that." Anko rejoined.

"So I've been told. Probably also have the second most chakra from our graduates as well since we are counting the dobe there." Sasuke flashed a small grin at Naruto's direction before turning around and swinging through a set of handseals he'd been using since before he was in the Academy. "_Katon: G__ōkakyū __no Jutsu!_" as he shot out the Grand Fireball that was bigger than any of them right into the air, it going for a little bit before fading out.

"Pretty good there, especially since you've got some elemental training under your belt. Have you done the various walking exercises yet?"

"Walking exercises?" Sasuke frowned before shaking his head.

"Hah, we'll work on that first before moving onto any kind of Ninjutsu then." Anko shook her head. "Really, that kind of shit should be part of the Academy to get students really interested."

"It is kinda fun." Naruto agreed.

"Oh, you know it?"

"I can't climb trees properly, but I'm gaining some headway with water."

"Not bad kiddo. Show us your stuff next."

"Ah, alright. I guess I can summon some more since I'm only using a light load."

"Summon more what?" Anko frowned, wondering if this is what he meant by clones. She hadn't bothered to read the printout she had been given, preferring to go in cold to not get any colorings in her perceptions.

"_Kage Bunshin_, of course." Naruto stated simply. "I figure I've got about fifty running around."

"F-f-fifty?" Anko went wide eyed, suddenly coughing as she swallowed some air. "What the fuck?"

"He summoned five in the classroom before lunch." Sasuke said. "Used them to reprimand other clones he had summoned. You also said about a hundred when you were talking to Hinata earlier."

"Oh? I guess I did. I lose track of them sometimes." Naruto shrugged while wondering why Anko looked like she was about to suffocate.

"...That's not the way it's supposed to work you know." Anko choked out after finally finding her composure.

"Well, I had a few hundred out when I kicked Mizuki's ass. I've been doing Chakra Control exercises since that night with my Byakugan active all the time. Today's the first day I've not activated it since I first started training." Naruto shrugged as if it wasn't anything weird.

"Sasuke, Ino." Anko finally spoke, using their first names. "I'm going to say this once. Never feel bad that you have less chakra than Naruto. Never ever think about that because you'll find yourself constantly depressed."

"Huh?" Ino asked suddenly.

"Just watch." Anko replied before looking back at Naruto. "Alright Strawberry, I want you to summon as many as you can, all at once."

"You sure about that?" Naruto blinked a few times.

"Absolutely." Anko got a malicious grin on her face. Oh, she was going to love this team, the ideas already floating through her head about what they could do.

"Alright then." Naruto said with a shrug, squaring his shoulders and taking a small open stance to better plant his feet before making a single handsign, his Byakugan activating as he drew on his chakra for a couple seconds. "_TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!_" Naruto yelled.

The entire training ground was shrouded by a mass amount of smoke as a literal ton of Naruto appeared, once again, a good portion of them staying in smoke longer and coming out as female, including the nearest one who just leaned against the original.

"Well, I'll be damned." Anko whistled, also catching sight of the female variants. "Why are some of them female?"

"Because the Boss has a fucked up mind." The female clone beside Naruto said.

"You again?" Naruto asked dejectedly.

"Totally." She grinned. "Like the show earlier Sasuke-kun? Though I admit, the payment was a bit...hot..." she grinned even more, looking totally crazy.

"Strawberry."

"Yeah?"

"You're weird." Anko finally said, still in a bit of a shock. "Alright. Next History Lesson. No one but Naruto is ever allowed to use that specific technique."

"What? Why this version? What's the difference?" Ino asked while Sasuke frowned while blushing a little, edging away from the female Naruto clone while the rest just stood there without any orders.

"It's a Forbidden Technique. Kinjutsu. It can and will kill you without the proper chakra reserves." Anko said flatly "Even then, this isn't normally possible anyway." She waved her hand towards the sea of clones that was surrounding them. "Especially since they're not supposed to _Henge_ like that."

"Why not?" Naruto asked. "I asked the Hyuuga earlier, but they never gave me an answer." Naruto said with a frown, his Byakugan still active so most of his vision was tinged with blue from his own chakra. "Do you know how long it took me to get the feeling of the clothing right?"

"Or the tits." The female said from next to him.

"Wait...what?" Anko and Ino both did a near spit take at that.

"That was purely accidental and you know it, you bitch." Naruto snarled at his own clone before looking at the sea of himself. "Alright, all of you scatter, _Henge_, whatever. Training only and _NO PRANKS_! Usual dispersion rules apply. Now get out of here, I'm bonding with our team!"

"You're supposed to say 'my', Boss." The female next to him reminded.

"Shut it." Naruto growled before catching the evil look Ino and Anko were giving him. "Jeeze, I've been working in a massage parlour for the past five years...some of the women are a bit less, uhh...sensitive about showing their bodies off." Naruto coughed into his fist. "It's not my fault I'm not a virgin, dammit. She slipped me something."

"Wait, wait, wait..." Sasuke finally held up his hand, trying to stop the story. "You worked as an exotic masseuse?"

"Uhh...I gave ladies massages, if that's what you mean?" Naruto said with a shrug. "They just told me where to rub and I did. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to do some things until after I turned twelve last year."

"The owner was pissed off actually. Most of his customers are, every so often, kunoichi on, leave or visiting from allied villages, and some like 'em young. The ladies from Grass in particular." The female Naruto said with a snort, not having left like the rest. "The new rule was we're only allowed to give regular backrubs after he walked in while boy wonder here was giving a frontal breast massage to a lady from Mist."

"I didn't know!" Naruto complained. "I was just told to do whatever the customer wanted, word got around, there we go. Can we stop this now...and why the hell are you still here?" He shoved the clone off his shoulder.

"Because Sasuke's here, obviously. He wants to see my rack." Female Clone Naruto nodded seriously, holding her chin with one hand in a sideways L.

Of course, that set of Sasuke and Ino into spluttering while Anko laughed like a mad woman once again while Naruto looked highly offended. "No! Nonono! Not allowed, not happening, ever again!" Naruto declared adamantly. "That's both sick and wrong!"

"He knows what he likes." the Clone shrugged before cackling and evading a sideswipe of Ino's fist before waving cheerily and dashing off. "I'll go work now. You know where to find me, Sasuke-_kuuun_!" The clone winked and ran off into the distance.

"So that's what you meant by both liking and disliking your clones." Anko looked at her smallest student with a bit of speculation.

"Stupid clones." Naruto muttered. "Anyway, yeah. My taijutsu is improving, I'm short of Hinata still, but I figure with constant training I'll catch up soon enough. Muscle memory is a great thing. No Genjutsu to speak of...since the Academy is stupid."

"I think we're all agreed on that statement." Anko said a with a nod. "Alright, I think I know the perfect training schedule now, though I'll ask up front about this. Do you guys want to do missions and training or do you want just training first?"

"What's the difference in the end?" Ino asked.

"Missions and Training means you'll make more money up front, but the training will be a bit more steady since you'll be a bit tired from the missions. You'll probably get to higher ranked missions slightly faster this way. Pure training at first is to get you guys stronger faster so you when we do start doing missions, you'll be able to do a bunch in a row before getting tired. It'll take slightly longer to get to the higher ranked missions, but they'll also be easier to do as well. Also, I'm more of a hands on tutor, most sensei will let you go at your own pace, but not me. I want you three to be the best you can be as fast as possible as well." Anko admitted. "Not only will you get stronger and become a better team, it'll help you work for towards each of your goals, which you should try to do combined." That last part was directed straight at Sasuke who just grudgingly nodded.

"Since I'm living with the Hyuuga and I don't need to scrape together cash for a bowl of rice anymore, I say training. It's what I've grown accustomed to anyway." Naruto said with a shrug. "The worst part is, because of my clones, I'm still only able to learn things at the rate of someone else." He started to sound a bit dejected at that.

"Ah, shoddy control?" Anko asked softly.

"I burn grass to a crisp instead of being able to float it a little." Naruto responded flatly, finally deactivating his eyes, allowing his vision to go back to normal, suddenly going pale and swearing. "God-dammit, I thought we agreed to stay out of 44!" He shouted to the sky, angry at no one but himself.

"44?"

"It's call The Forest of Death." Anko stated, looking at Naruto. "Which is off limits except during exams."

"Well, some of my clones got the funny idea to try practicing their walking exercises in there...adds a bit of zest, they thought." Naruto grimaced. "That's twice this week that I've felt what it's like to be eaten alive. Same god-damn snake too."

"You're something, Strawberry, you really are." Anko said with a snort. "Alright then, second vote?"

"Training." Sasuke said flatly.

"Training!" Ino chirped since that's what Sasuke wanted.

"Alright then. Everyday we meet here at Nine in the morning." Anko stated. "I've decided that this is going to be an Assault and Retrieve group. You'll all be working on speed and stamina for the foreseeable future. Well, You two are going to work on your stamina, this guy apparently doesn't need it. Which means, a lot of running." Anko nodded and grinned. "With incentive means I'll be chasing you, and every week I'll be chasing you faster. If you get caught, you get cut up." Anko pulled out a kunai and twirled it around her finger. "After the first week, I'll be chasing you until you meet my standards."

Ino grimaced while Sasuke just nodded. Naruto didn't think this was any different than his Academy training, so it didn't bother him much.

"Also, Strawberry, less Orange." Anko added.

"God-dammit." Naruto muttered. "You and Hiashi both don't like my suit." He started grumbling something about unbelievers, though it was mostly jokingly.

"Yeah yeah, we know. Heathens against the Orange." Anko grinned manically at him. "Get something that fits a bit better too, something like the Hyuuga wear, or something a bit tighter, no more of this insanely baggy clothing."

"Aw come on. Even Iruka-sensei didn't notice. " Naruto complained again and finally let out a sigh. "Fine then. You get to help me pick stuff out."

"I'll help." Sasuke put in. "Burn the old clothing that is. Seriously, Orange hurts my eyes."

"Dammit, Sasuke." Naruto whined.

Ino giggled. "I'll help too. What say we do this now?"

"Our first team bonding session." Anko grinned

"Yay." Sasuke deadpanned flatly.

Naruto responded just as Sasuke did with a simple; "Glee."

* * *

The meeting started off with the usual pleasantries, greetings, and a bit of surprise that Kakashi was actually in attendance, already there and waiting. Some figured that Hokage-sama had told the Elite Jounin to be there a few hours earlier. Soon enough, a bunch of Jounin filtered in and ten of them stood in a line in front of the desk that their Hokage sat at. It was the day after the original team creation and it started off with the usual spiel and then they started off with Team One which was a predictable 'Fail'

"Team Two, Failed. Despite having prior knowledge, they didn't act upon it."

"Same with Team Three." the Third Jounin interjected.

"Ditto, Four."

"Wow, same here as Five."

"Seriously guys, what's with the teams this year? Same with Six. They were blaming the Uzumaki kid when I told them they failed."

"Hah!" Anko crowed suddenly. "Strawberry is such a great amusement."

"Strawberry?" Kakashi peeked over his book.

"Well, it's the color of his hair." Anko retorted. "Apparently he had a clone that told everyone in the classroom that Teamwork was the key to the whole secondary part of the exam."

"How did he find that out?" Asuma asked.

"Ah, he was helping me with some paperwork." Sarutobi coughed into his fist innocently. "So, going on, Team Seven, Anko?"

"Passed; obviously, with a bit of extra credit thrown in." Anko responded proudly.

"Oh?" Kurenai asked.

"Ino's a bit on the average side, but outside of that, they're all overpowered to be regular Genin." Anko said with a grin. "The Uchiha already has his Elemental Training under his belt, Ino managed to actually catch me with her clan's body jacking technique...whatever it was called and held me for about half a second. Not bad all things considered. Hell, even the Uchiha opened up for a few moments. I even caught him smiling more than once."

"And Naruto?" The Hokage asked.

"Naruto scares the shit out of me." Anko said bluntly.

Sarutobi's eyes sharpened at that and even Kakashi looked up from his book, his one visible eye narrowing slightly.

Anko continued on, ignoring the blatant edge she was toeing. "Seriously. He tells me he's got about fifty clones up and about...and not just regular _Bunshin_ but _Kage Bunshin_, and then the Uchiha goes and corrects him and says something about around a hundred." That got a few shocked looks and gasps and hurried whispers. "So I told him to summon as many as I could."

"Ah. That would explain the sudden influx of total strangers yesterday." The Hokage nodded and took a puff on his pipe. "I hadn't gotten around to reading that report beyond the fact that there was a lot of people suddenly appearing in the village."

"Yeah, he used the forbidden version and made about a thousand or so _Kage Bunshin _and the part that scared me, was that a few hundred of them turned female almost instantly, including one of them that was back talking and making fun of him." Anko paused and looked at the village leader. "Did you know he worked, accidentally, as an exotic masseuse and he's no longer a virgin?"

Anko cackled at the spluttering of various people around the room, enjoying Kurenai's sudden look of idignation almost as much as Kakashi's gaping face.

"Yes, I knew all about that." The Hokage responded absently. "The owner of the parlor he was working at came to me right away when he found out and I got the full story from Naruto."

"Ah, so you know his _Henge _is completely solid too then?" Anko asked archly, causing another round of mutters.

"He's even got the scent down right." Sarutobi nodded. "I do wonder how he managed to get the properties of silk down properly...and the fact that he managed to teach his version to my Grandson, who passed it onto two of his friends at the Academy. Also, to forestall your next question, if about that technique, no adult has seemed to been able to learn it. I don't even quite understand how it works, despite having been shown it on more than one occasion."

"Want me to try and copy it?" Kakashi asked softly.

"If you like. He only uses one seal to do it." Sarutobi said with a shrug. "Was there anything else before we move to Team Eight, Anko?"

"Ah, the reason for the extra credit, and why I'm proud to be their new sensei." She paused and looked her Hokage right in the eye, no minor feat. "He told them, and they're okay with it."

"Well, I'll be." Sarutobi laughed merrily.

"Yep. Inoichi, you should be proud of your daughter, she saw right to the heart of it, and didn't give a damn. Said something along the lines of 'A kunai sealed in a scroll doesn't make the scroll a kunai'."

"That's my girl." Inoichi said proudly.

"So, Team Seven is a go."

"Team Eight is good to go." Asuma said with a nod. "Kiba's about as much an Inuzuka as one can get, he's a bit wild, but he'll listen to both Shino and, surprisingly, Sakura. They managed to work together, using Sakura as their control tower to work together and managed to catch me in a bit of a trap. Sakura's the surprising one of the bunch. She really does have the best control of her chakra I've ever seen, though, because of that, her amounts are somewhat dismal. I've already got her on a training regime that'll boost her chakra and keep her control."

The Hokage nodded once again and let out a small smile. Things were going as planned so far. "So, Genjutsu for her?"

"That or I can try to make her into a Combat Medic. She has the control for it, easily." Asuma nodded. "Actually, I'll have her work on both. It'll probably be for the best."

"Alright. Hamaki?"

"Sadly, same as the rest of the failures." Hamaki Mimura sighed and shook his head slightly.

"Agreed. Finally, Team Ten?"

"Pass. They make for a pretty good team actually. Especially since Hinata has started to become a bit more outgoing. Once Shikamaru found out he'd have to go back to the Academy if he didn't pass he got sufficiently motivated, his planning was top notch. I found out the reason he came second last in the Academy was because the effort to move the pencil was to much." Kurenai smiled and let out a low chuckle when she heard Shikaku groan in annoyance behind them.

"Well, that's everyone this year. The three of you that passed teams, stay behind for a moment." Sarutobi said with a small nod, watching as the rest of the Jounin filed out except for the three that had passed the teams, Kakashi, and Shikaku. "At ease, everyone."

"Sir." Asuma and Kurenai nodded while Anko remained quiet.

"As you all know, this year is quite different, this doesn't quite effect you two, but it does affect you, Anko." Sarutobi went on.

"Cause I'm still not a full Jounin?" Anko asked.

"That and because of Naruto." Sarutobi nodded slightly. "What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room."

"Great, another S-class secret about Strawberry? What's this one about?" Anko asked wryly."

"His parents." Kakashi snapped his book shut and walked forward. "All of the clan elders know this, but your three teams will be working a bit closer together than years previously, and because of that, you'll need to know a few extra things."

"Shino and Shikamaru both already know." Shikaku added in. "Both are more intelligent than they show off...the rest just don't know where to look."

"Wait, so his mother really was Kushina?" Asuma asked suddenly. "I thought he was just named Uzumaki because he had the Kyuubi."

"Yes, his mother really was the last container, she died not even a day after childbirth, protecting her son from the Kyuubi, it was released by someone. I'm still not sure who, but she managed to survive somehow, but was later killed." Sarutobi spoke softly, puffing on his pipe again. "Which means, that also, yes, Shodaime's wife is his Great Grand Aunt."

"Kami..." Anko breathed out. "Does Tsunade-sama know she still has family left?"

"I'm afraid not." Sarutobi said sadly. "She left the village before the attack and neither Jiraiya or Orochimaru have been able to find her before she leaves the vicinity of where they last had information of her. That's part of the reason we've been looking for her to come home. She was the only viable person to adopt Naruto before he developed the Byakugan out of the blue like that."

"Then what about her Father?" Kurenai asked. "Who was that?" That really wasn't widespread information either, very few people knew that Kushina was actually with her husband, least not outside of a few of the females in the various clans.

"A hero who everyone looks at every day when they look at the Mountain." Kakashi stated softly. "Naruto's hair is a mixture of his parents. Kushina-san's red...and Minato-sama's blonde."

"Fuck me." Anko said reverently. "What else are you going to drop on us?"

"Orochimaru and Jiraiya have uncovered a plot to invade at the next Chuunin exams we're holding, they haven't found out which village it is, but we've already talked to Sand into helping us secretly. They'll be sending a team over within the next month to help coordinate and plan. Included on the team will be their Host as well."

"Who is it?" Asuma asked.

"Subaku no Gaara. She holds Shukaku, and Jiraiya tells me her seal is pretty much worthless. In exchange for them helping, the Yondaime of Sand has asked us to either fix it, or deal with her." Sarutobi stated blandly. "She's also his youngest daughter. Pleasant, 'ne?"

"That's disgusting." Kurenai stated.

"Agreed." Sarutobi sighed softly. "Anko, you'll be informing your team about them, specifically Naruto. Try and get them to become friends, from what I've read of Gaara's reports, that's all that she really wants, but has been struggling against the Ichibi for control of her own mind."

"Hah. That might work, and besides, if Gaara just wants to kill someone, Naruto can supply a bunch of clones." Anko snickered. "Also, I'm thinking we're going to need a psyche evaluation on Strawberry. Some of his clones seem to find it fun to train in 44, even knowing the dangers. He told me he didn't like the sensation of being eaten alive by the same snake twice in a week.

"I'm requesting my team be held back from any kind of joint mission for now though." Asuma stated while pulling out a cigarette. "I need to break Sakura of her Sasuke habit."

"I broke Ino pretty quickly. Just scared the hell out of the Uchiha and her vision of a perfect man shattered." Anko snorted.

"Lucky you, but Sakura's a civilian. The last several years the civilian populace has been putting him up on a pedastal, even if he absolutely hates the idea." Asuma sighed as he lit his cigarette.

"Alright then. You'll inform your teams in one month from now, until, go about your usual buisness." Sarutobi nodded, watching Kakashi pull his book back out again. "Kakashi will also be hopping between teams to evaluate various things with your teams." Said man just barely looked up from his beloved orange book.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Anko suddenly piped in. "I floated it by my team and they've opted for training before we attempt any missions. I was planning on training them straight and get their standards up before taking on the usual spiel of missions assigned to show the different kind of missions."

"Granted. What about you two?"

"I'll ask them tomorrow." Kurenai nodded.

"Missions and training for me." Asuma said blandly. "Missions are the only way I'll break Sakura's fascination. Once I've done that, I'll get them training more."

"Excellent. You five are dismissed." Sarutobi smiled slightly. "And, Anko?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Take Naruto with you."

They all heard a loud 'Eep!' from the otherside of the door, causing Sarutobi to let out a large laugh.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

See what I did there? This is why Book 3 is the most different. I've got plans within plans, and I hope you all don't think I'm a complete bastard in the end. Why did I do that to Gaara? Well, he's already a homocidal maniac when he's introduced...so, I figured I'd ramp it up a bit. I'm sure more than a few people are going to hate me for that, but I think Gaara as a female on her period and already insane is just a sight to behold. The thing with Orochimaru has a point and is a surprise.

Also, do you like 'Naruko'? Yeah, she's bit of a bitch, but that's the entire point and I find it entertaining. Thanks for the five reviews that've agreed with me on the clones being funny, and I hope you guys'll agree with what I'm doing even more. Also, Dragon Man 180...yeah, I was planning on it for shits and giggles.

As always, please read and review. Chapter 2 for Book 1 is coming along nicely since I've got nothing better to do outside of look for a friggin' job all the time. Book 2 is at a bit of an impasse as I post this...and a Moment Gone Awry is a hit the block since I need to come up with something to make a C-Rank mission go screwy outside of Sound showing up.


	3. Loopholes in Training

Yuuku grinned ever so slightly as she casually swatted the open palm away from her face and retaliated with an elbow to the forehead of the clone she was sparring with. A minor flare of her chakra using the Hyuuga taught techniques, sending a spike of chakra through her elbow and straight into the frontal lobe of the clone, lobotomizing it and making it disperse. It was enough to cause the rest of the clones to pause in their own sparring and stare at her as if she was a complete loon. She just waved cheerily back until Boss started to shout about some crazy lunatic, adopting a look of innocence she skipped over to Boss and jumped on his shoulders.

"Hey Boss."

"You..." Naruto growled lowly.

"Me what?" She continued innocently.

"I hate you." Naruto bit out.

"That's not healthy you know, hating yourself and all. It leads to emoness." The strawberry blonde clone named Yuuku, or Trouble, retorted manically. "And emoness leads to duck-butt hair."

"Oh...fuck off." The original Naruto grumbled.

"Fuck on, you get better results." She chirped right back before hopping off and gleefully going back and sparring with other clones, devastating almost all of the ones she came across. Male and female clones alike were no match for the clone with a name. She was the strangest of the bunch, to put it lightly.

All in all, it was just another morning in the Hyuuga Compound. Thankfully, the veritable sea of orange had disappeared into a veritable sea of black and orange. There was no way Naruto would get rid of his favorite color, but he was willing to compromise with his new family. It wasn't so shockingly bright, and more of a pale, yet burnt orange, striped like a tiger of sorts. Naruto had gotten the idea when several of his clones had been ambushed in Training Ground 44 once again. They had chased the snake away only to be mauled by a pack of tigers not but five minutes later. Suffice to say, he ordered his clones to stay the hell out of 44, or he wouldn't eat ramen for a week.

As all of the clones were apparently facets of his personality, that got all of them to shut up and take their punishment. Even the self-proclaimed Yuuku had stood straighter when that command was given.

It had been almost a month now since they were taken on teams, Naruto, Sasuke, and Ino were coming along quite nicely. Ino was throwing herself in her training to get better, even if she still gave off that creepy vibe whenever she was around Sasuke. Sasuke still hadn't gotten his Sharingan activated, despite Anko scaring him half to death on a few occasions, all while Naruto trained his ass off to get his Chakra control up to snuff. Day in and out, chakra control exercises. Walking on Walls, Water, floating leaves, Senbon, various other non-expensive things around the compound. He was slowly getting there, and the clones were a massive help.

Along with someone other than Iruka-sensei showing him how to actually do things properly was a major bonus too.

Would he ever be on par with an actual Hyuuga who'd been trained for years? Probably not for a while. Would he have the chakra control to devastate pinpoint accurate targets within his opponent's bodies? Probably never. Compared to the average subtlety of the gentle strikes of a Hyuuga's piercing Gentle Fist, Naruto was a jackhammer going at it with his blows.

Of course, at the same time, the results could almost be the same. If he needed to kill someone, his attacks would do that just fine. It was simply subduing his opponents that would take a while to get a hold of. Since he was only a Genin and if he was actually attacked on a mission, Anko would more than likely be able to subdue someone before Naruto accidentally offed them.

That was if she felt like it anyway.

Without thinking on that particular subject any longer, Naruto went to breakfast, joining with the majority of the rest of the Hyuuga family whom were starting to warm up to the strawberry blond boy. He certainly stood out compared to the rest of the Hyuuga, but his cheerful nature was starting to chip away at the stone cold facade that the rest put up.

To Hiashi, the best, and at the same time worst, part was Hanabi trying to pull a prank. The youngest Hyuuga managed to fail spectacularly in front of a good portion of the family, embarrassing the small girl something fierce, but even Hiashi's father had cracked a smile at it.

Needless to say, the supposed recipient, Naruto, was rolling on his back, laughing his ass off at the now orange and pink haired Hanabi. That had maintained for days after the event. Even currently, Naruto tried to hold in grunts of laughter every time he looked at the normally stoic little girl.

Today was also the day that the three teams were to gather together, have a mock free for all, and then meet and greet the team from Suna. Of course, Naruto had to get some more training in, and was, outside of the insults and annoyances, really glad for how fucked up his clones were. Sure he might've been able to come up with some of these techniques eventually, but a full contact Jyuuken using elbows, knees, and the feet made it even more lethal.

After all, pain was a great motivator, and feeling what a lethal strike would be was a very good motivation to dodge to avoid that kind of pain that much longer.

Much like every other day, breakfast was a large family affair for the Hyuuga. Main and Branch members gathered together throughout the compound and started to eat together. Naruto usually sat between Neji and Hinata with Hanabi nearby, growling as she plotted her mad plots of prank revenge.

"You ready to go today?" Naruto suddenly asked over his bowl of white rice.

Hinata, after living with the boy for the past month had finally gotten over her stutters and blushes and was infinitely more confident in what she could do. Especially since it was her that was training him. Nevertheless, she was still a bit shy and submissive. "I believe so." She finally responded.

"Good." Naruto nodded shovelling rice into his mouth in a manner that was decidedly un-Hyuuga. "No holding back against us today. You got that?" Naruto knew full well that the heiress to the Hyuuga family was always holding back in her spars against him. She could school his ass in straight Taijutsu fight now. Of course the worst part was that she did that with everyone, even Hanabi, to the extent that Hanabi won most of their fights.

"I'll do my best, Naruto-kun." Hinata let a small smile part her lips, watching as Naruto winced as a bunch of clones were dispersed at once. The strawberry blond boy rubbing his nose gingerly. "She's better than you are." Hinata idly noted.

"I don't see how a clone of me is better than I am at something." Naruto declared.

"She has more imagination." Neji put in silently. "Because she has less mass under a _Henge_, she also moves a bit faster. Specifically since you're a chakra powerhouse, she can maintain that female _Henge_ for the entire time she exists."

"That's...really smart." Naruto marvelled at the older Hyuuga for a moment.

"Well, it also helps that your _Henge_ doesn't disperse like a normal one does so quickly." Neji pointed out. "Most can't take many, if any, hits before dispersing."

"So that's why Anko-sensei said mine was solid. I thought that was weird. Isn't everyone's?" Naruto blinked in confusion.

"True." Hiashi finally put in, glad for some intelligent discourse at breakfast. "If I was to touch or grab something under _Henge_ it would not vanish, but if someone were to touch my _Henge_ outside of certain factors, the chakra matrix would destabilize and break apart. If I was not expecting to be touched, or if someone grabbed my hand to shake it to fiercely for example."

"I was wondering why she kept going on and on about the silk when I showed her the second time." Naruto mused. "Oh well. Too bad you're not joining us today, Neji. It'd be fun."

The older Genin let a smirk loose. "You'd all lose against the three of us anyway." The smirk gave way to a wry grin. "Besides, we're on a C-Rank mission today. Escorting some bridge builder to Wave and protecting him while we're there."

The small talk continued on for another half an hour, even after breakfast was finished. The conversation moved to the outside while Naruto sparred lightly with Neji and Hinata, and even Hanabi before dispersing all of his clones and walking with Hinata towards the joint training ground they'd all be occupying.

Not but an hour later, all nine Genin and their three Jounin were there. Naruto stood with his team, Byakugan active like always while he continued to try and float grass, burning it every time he tried. Sasuke was current sitting on the ground, trying to meditate while Ino was also sitting down, though more relaxing. Anko was twirling a kunai on one finger while talking quietly with Kurenai. Hinata was talking quietly with both Chouji and Shikamaru, going over plans for this fight. Sakura, despite having most of her crush broken was still staring with an almost fierce determination at Sasuke while Kiba was playing with Akamaru. Shino just stood quietly by a tree in the shade, probably conversing with his bugs.

"Aha!" Naruto shouted triumphantly, looking at a piece of half ripped up and burnt piece of grass. "I'm starting to get the hang of it. Anko-sensei! Anko-sensei! Look! I managed to get it to float above my palm for a few seconds!" He held up the piece of grass for her to see the single blade of grass in all its glory.

"Not bad, Strawberry. You're finally getting there." Anko said with a feral grin while the others in the field looked on with a lack of understanding.

He caught Sakura's frown and snort but ignored it while waving at Hinata who had heard and smiled at him. He was finally making some progress with the finer bits of his chakra control.

Suddenly a swirl of leaves signalled the appearance of Kakashi Hatake, appearing rather close to on time for once. "Yo'." he said with a wave of two fingers, taking in all of the kids and their teachers. "Alright, this is going to be a free for all for all three teams, though, as such. I believe there are some restrictions on some things." His single eye shifted to Anko.

"Yep. My team is going to be acting with a handicap to their skills." Anko said with a nod. "This will, hopefully, bring things down to an even level."

Sakura frowned and spoke up. "What do you mean? Is Sasuke-kun not going to participate?"

Anko looked at the pink haired girl with something akin to disgust. "Asuma, I thought you were working on that?"

"Slow goings." Asuma said with a shrug and a puff from his cigarette.

"Anyway." Anko said with a sigh. "I've gone through everyone's files and I've noted that everyone here can do at least 3 _Bunshin_, correct?" She got an affirmative from everyone. "Which means..." she trailed off and looked at her squad. "Naruto. You can only use one _Kage Bunshin_ for this fight, but if it gets popped, you can resummon it."

"Er. Sensei?" Sasuke suddenly opened up his eyes and looked at the youngest of the adults involved. "You do realize what's going to happen, right?"

Anko gave the last Uchiha a flat look. "You see this face? Does this look like a face that cares?"

Sasuke didn't respond, just arching an eyebrow at the eccentric woman.

Ino giggled. "We've still got this in the bag, even if Naruto's going under such a massive handicap."

The four Jounin sweat dropped since they understood, but their Genin's didn't quite understand the fact that the Dead Last was the one under the handicap and not Sasuke, at least not until they started to remember the day they were all assigned their teams.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru finally said with a grumble.

"Alright then. Now this is going to be a mock spar. The four of us will be watching, and if we say to stop, you stop. The team with the last person standing wins. If no one wins within two hours, we'll declare a tie and finish up at another day." Kakashi said. "You have ten minutes to prepare. When I say start, go. And remember to keep things to non-lethal attacks."

They all gave an affirmative nod as the ten minutes started to countdown.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu._" Naruto was the only one to cut into the immediate silence following Kakashi's declaration. A puff of smoke and a female Naruto was leaning against the original, dressed in the same kind of clothing, but with a more obvious feminine approach to it, the jacket was half unzipped, showing off the fact that she was indeed a female, small bust and all. The clone had longer hair than the original and the hair was of a darker tint, more towards red than the strawberry blonde that it was. She even seemed a little taller than the original

"Miss me already?" Yuuku asked with a cheshire grin.

"Seriously, how the hell are you here?" Naruto demanded.

"I'm that special, Naruto-kun." The girl's cheshire grin shifted to something rather sly and foxy. "Besides, you know you love me."

"No I don't! I hate your guts!" Naruto shouted angrily.

Yuuku tilted her head to the side a little. "Really? Again? You know you shouldn't hate yourself like that. It's unhealthy and the first step towards cutting yourself. Soon you're going to start to brood and have hair like Sasuke's."

Naruto spluttered and shoved the female clone off of him. "Sensei, can I please make more clones so I don't have to deal with her?"

"Nope." Anko said cheerfully. "Think of it as an exercise in control."

The clone kept her grin up and bent over slightly in Sasuke's direction. "Oh Sasuke-_kuuuun_..."

Kiba caught all of this and bust up laughing again while Sakura seemed to radiate anger. Hinata and Ino were somewhat amused and the other three boys just shook their heads at the scene.

"Get the hell away from me." Sasuke grumbled, looking away with the barest hints of a blush on his face.

"Why?" Yuuku asked with a cute pout. "Don't you want to see my tits again?"

Naruto shuddered and gagged when he heard that. "Yuuku, quit it!" He finally managed to get in, glad to see that Sakura was being held back by her Jounin-sensei despite spluttering in rage and anger, yelling about perversion and how she was going to beat Naruto's face in. "We've got a spar to win. Kami-dammit. Be serious for once!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Yuuku pouted and stood up, zipping her jacket closed as well, spinning around until she was facing away from Sasuke. Since her Byakugan was active, just like Naruto's, she smirked and slapped her ass the moment he was looking in her general direction again. "You can stare at that anytime, Sasuke-_kuuun..._"

Naruto and Sasuke both twitched and Ino cackled while dragging Yuuku off towards the tree line to start their own tactical conversation, especially since only about seven minutes remained.

* * *

"Alright. What do we know about our opponents?" Naruto asked first.

"Forehead's pretty smart, but she doesn't have much in the way of techniques going for her." Ino put in first, speaking softly and tugging at her ponytail nervously. "She's also insanely infatuated with you Sasuke-kun, so she'll not likely attack you."

"She's their Control." Sasuke put in absently. "Orders Shino and Kiba around, but they generally follow her instructions. They're also the only team that's done missions so far, so they've got actual field experiences."

"How d'you know that?" Naruto asked with a frown, trying to keep Yuuku from being creepy was a bit distracting.

"They took a mission to clean the Uchiha District." Sasuke responded flatly. "I could hear her from halfway across it."

"Ah." Naruto nodded in understanding. "Well, if Hinata mans up, she'll be able to kick all our asses...She can beat me without even trying."

"Only when you're going through the strict forms of Jyuuken." Yuuku finally got around Naruto's hand and put her part in. "Let your imagination run wild and she can't keep up."

Naruto looked oddly disgusted at that. "Last time I let that happen, you kneed a clone in the balls and let out flare of chakra too." He did sigh finally though. "It's a good idea, but we can't use Jyuuken against anyone, we're under a secondary handicap, remember?"

Both Sasuke and Ino frowned at that while the female clone growled in consternation. "Right, no lethal blows, our control ain't good enough yet for a subduing strike like Hinata's...guess we just need to improvise and tire everyone out without resorting to actual chakra usage."

"Shikamaru is the one we really have to worry about." Ino finally said with a sigh. "He's smarter than Sakura, even if he is a lazy bastard."

"True. He helped come up with the majority of our pranks when we skipped out on class." Naruto mused. "But as you said, he's lazy too. If we can get Chouji away from him, he'll fold really easy."

"I'd rather not fight Chouji in a frontal attack either." Sasuke grimaced as he thought back to the one time in the Academy that Chouji managed to clip him with a punch on the chin. His jaw was almost cracked and was sore for a month.

"Here here." Yuuku chanted in agreement. "Threat assessment then? Shikamaru and Hinata are on the top. Chouji comes in third unless we get him by surprise, with Kiba and Shino following close by. Especially with an Aburame's bugs, you two will get drained pretty quickly. I'll be the decoy since I can be resummoned and all that, especially since information gathering will work to my benefit."

Naruto nodded at that, and then got an odd glint in his eye. "How many clones can you make?" He suddenly asked.

"You gave me half your chakra so...a lot...?" Yuuku trailed off, thinking it through for a half a second before a feral grin passed on her lips.

"What?" Ino asked suddenly.

"It was agreed Naruto couldn't make any more than one clone." Sasuke said, suddenly clueing in as well. "Anko-sensei never said anything about his clone making more clones."

"I do love me some loopholes." Naruto barked out a laugh. "We're gonna win this-ttebayo!"

They all nodded, waiting until the ten minutes were nearly up before Yuuku turned away from the rest of them to make Naruto's favorite hand sign. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu._" Her voice was low and she seemed to snarl as she said it. Sasuke and Ino both caught it, wondering why the girl had larger fangs than Naruto as well. They weren't really surprised when twenty more Naruto clones of both genders popped in out of the blue.

Suddenly Kakashi's voice called out into the clearing with a loud and resounding; "Go!"

* * *

Anko chuckled from her spot next to the three Jounin, glancing between Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi. "Looks like my team's gonna win."

"Oh, how's that?" Asuma asked after he lit his newest cigarette. "My team is pretty good, you know."

"Same here Anko." Kurenai remarked. "All three of our teams are pretty even when you think about it."

"Already forget what Naruto could do, did you?" Kakashi finally asked, not even looking up from his book. "You guys left him with a loophole to exploit and he'll do anything to exploit it too."

Kurenai narrowed her crimson eyes a little. "So, he can make a _Kage Bunshin_ over and over, that's not that big of a deal. Hinata tells me he can't use the Jyuuken on another person yet."

"None of you know what a _Kage Bunshin_ can do, do you?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile as he finally looked up, snapping his book closed.

"Oh...shit, yeah, I get it now." Asuma said with a sigh, taking a long drag on his smoke.

Anko grinned wickedly. "That means I win."

"I still don't get it..." Kurenai blinked with a frown.

"Well, you're a relatively new Jounin, so it's not really a surprise." Kakashi said with a shrug. "A _Kage Bunshin_ is pretty much an exact duplicate of the one using the technique. All weapons, all skills, though a bit on the drone-like side."

"Note that second part, Nai-chan." Anko purred out. "Strawberry's clones can make more clones. You all agreed that he couldn't make anymore, not his clones. Just be glad he doesn't know his elemental affinity yet, like Sasuke does."

"Imagine what he could do with a _Mizu Bunshin_ if he was a _Suiton_ user, 10% of his strength, stamina, and chakra. It's a good thing he doesn't know how to use all of that properly yet." Kakashi rejoined with a smirk.

"And his control is improving daily. It's already leaps and bounds over what it was when I got him on my team." Anko nodded.

"You mean with that burning grass?" Kurenai asked with a frown. "That doesn't seem all that impressive."

"He can't make a single _Bunshin_ to save his ass." Asuma reminded the newest Jounin. "Most people thought he barely had any chakra of his own at all if he couldn't even do that..." He trailed off, thinking it over for a moment. "And it looks like his clone, which he probably split half of his chakra with, can make at least twenty more _Kage Bunshin_." He paused and looked on as about twenty Narutos poured into the opening and towards his set of students. "Why the hell are some of those female, and what was with that weird clone from earlier?"

Anko shrugged it off. "Strawberry's clones are real weird; imaginative, mouthy, loud, and obnoxious. Just like him really. It could mean any number of different things...but I am keeping my eyes closely on him and that named clone of his."

Kakashi looked interested again, looking away from the fight to stare at Anko with a flat look. "Naruto named a clone? It has its own distinct personality?"

"Yeah, she's a sly one, always making fun of Strawberry and what he says, and they spar a lot, the funny part is that she usually kicks his ass." Anko responded with a shrug. "The memories of his clones are also a bit more vivid when he receives them." She paused, pulling out a stick of Dango from the depths of nowhere and pulled the first ball from the stick. "Bit of a running joke how his clones always goto train in 44 and he gets mad when they get themselves killed in new and interesting ways. He's even named the snake that seems to kill the most."

"Seriously?" Asuma deadpanned.

"Yep." Anko cackled madly as she watched half of the clones disappear into puffs of smoke as they finally managed to pile down on Kiba and Akamaru. "He calls it his 'Soon to be new jacket' every time he gets an influx of memories. Usually a minimum of fifteen clones at once too."

"Regardless. You pay careful attention. _It_ might be the one doing this and playing with its limits within the seal. Hokage-sama told me that the barest hints of its chakra surfaced with the Mizuki Incident." Kakashi pointed out. "It might be the cause of this, because my own _Kage Bunshin_ sure don't act like this."

Kurenai got an odd look on her face for a moment. "So, _It_, might actually be a _She_...and this is some way of being maternal?"

They all looked at each other for a moment before the burst out laughing at that idea and how stupid it was.

* * *

"No fair, you're cheating!" Sakura exclaimed as she and Shino were surrounded by clones, Kiba already have been taken down and out by the mass amount of clones that Yuuku kept summoning.

"Cheating?" Naruto blinked a few times and looked at both Ino and Sasuke. "Is...is she serious?"

"I...don't know?" Ino tilted her head to the side, thinking about it.

"Hn." Was Sasuke's typical response.

"Cheater! Get rid of all of your clones!" Sakura whined.

"I...I don't know what to say about that." Naruto honestly muttered.

"That's a first." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Oh stuff it." Naruto grumbled while looking at Yuuku out of the corner of his eye. "Just take her out."

The resulting pile of clones was enough to overwhelm Sakura, rather easily at that. But Shino took out a good majority of them like Kiba had done, and would've kept going until a rather large fireball was directed towards his face as a warning shot from Sasuke. It also helped that Ino's hands were splayed out in her most used technique and Shino knew what it was.

"I forfeit." Shino said with a nod. "Good plan, Naruto."

"Thanks Shino." Naruto gave the rather stoic Aburame a thumbs up.

Yuuku cackled madly. "Glad we didn't need that main plan for them, let's go into hiding and make up another plan to deal with Shikamaru's team."

"Will we really even need one?" Naruto blinked as they ran back into the trees.

"He is pretty smart." Ino pointed out.

Sasuke snorted. "He's also lazy. Laziest person I've ever met. Ever."

"This might just be too troublesome for him, yeah..." Ino reluctantly agreed.

"Shikamaru and Hinata would probably make for a good team though. His shadows and her Jyuuken combined would be pretty nasty." Naruto mused finally, twisting and smirking while waving in Hinata's direction despite the fact that the girl was a couple hundred feet away and in the bush.

"We need to take them on the open field, if we stick in the woods its more Shadows for Shikamaru to use." Ino nodded. "Chouji's strong, but he's also slow."

"Yuuku..." Naruto trailed off, about to say something, but the female clone had already created a bunch of her own clones and had them all _Henge_ into a bunch of pebbles and small rocks.

"We saturate the area with chakra. Hinata can't use her Byakugan to tell the difference, and if need be, the clones will get in Shika's shadow." Yuuku said with a faint shrug, deactivating her own Byakugan since the stones were a bit too bright and close by with all the chakra, prompting Naruto to do the same.

"Hyuuga can't use the Jyuuken without their Byakugan." Sasuke smirked.

"Well, they can." Naruto muttered. "It's just too dangerous to use on an ally. A flare of chakra into the wrong spot goes past just disabling."

"We need to get out of here. We're sitting ducks." Ino suddenly said. "Hinata can probably see us and she's probably already told Shikamaru and he'll be planning."

"She can probably see us as only a mass of chakra though." Sasuke murmured. "Ino, Naruto. You're up front with this. I'll flank and pepper Shikamaru with _Katon_ jutsu so he can't use his shadows. Yuuku. You've got enough chakra for this?"

"I'm under half." The female clone responded with a shrug. "If I pop, Naruto can just call a clone again anyway."

"True, but you act quicker than the rest." Naruto admitted grudgingly. "Alright. Let's go. Split up, surround them, and take them out."

The four of them bolted from the trees and into the clearing, standing there and not going into the other trees where Team 10 was. It was either a stalemate, or the other team would come out. It was honestly a good thing that Naruto had learned a semblance of patience, otherwise he'd've charged in already. Granted, just because he didn't charge didn't mean he'd tone down the remarks. "Come on out you chickens. Don't think you're gonna beat us!"

There was no response and Ino rolled her eyes before calling out. "You can't attack us from in there, but we can burn you out!"

Sasuke smirked and went through his hand seals with deliberate slowness, taking in a deep breath and breathed out a large ball of fire directly into the trees, as soon as the fireball had gone a certain distance, Yuuku threw the rocks she was carrying across the field, spreading them out widely.

Shikamaru was the first one out of the trees, his hands raised up. "I surrender." The boy stated lazily. "Troublesome."

Next Hinata came out and sighed, looking around the bits of pebbles without her Byakugan on. "It's no good Chouji." Her voice was low. "Sorry you guys." She sketched out a hasty bow towards Team Seven who just sighed in annoyance.

Chouji followed last, munching on a bag of chips with a shrug at the others.

"Told you so." Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, shove it." Ino growled.

* * *

While Kurenai scolded Shikamaru, Asuma went over what they did right and wrong. Anko just looked on smugly with her arms crossed over her chest. Kakashi was idly reading his usual orange book.

"Well, congrats, Team Seven, looks like you win." The Elite Jounin said without looking up. "I think you can start giving them missions now, Anko.

"I've already got our first mission lined up." Anko said with a feral grin, rounding on her three students. "You three are to escort a team from Suna coming in early for the Chuunin Exams. You're to show them around the village, nothing too sensitive mind you.

"A Foreign Escort?" Surprisingly Sasuke was the one to speak up. "Isn't that normally done by a team of Chuunin?"

"Extenuating Circumstances." Anko shrugged.

Naruto looked puzzled and Ino rolled her eyes, wrapping an arm around Naruto. "There's something special about them."

"I get it now." Naruto bopped a fist into an open palm and looked at Anko for a moment. "Er…why us?"

Anko stared at the strawberry blond boy for a moment and rolled her eyes while absently tapping her stomach. Naruto clued in with a mumbled curse and both Sasuke and Ino went wide-eyed. "Yeah, that. You'll be able to deal with them easier than any of the rest."

Anko thought back to the conversation she had with Naruto after the meeting where she had found out who the boy's parents were. He wasn't there for that, only catching the last part of the meeting, but he had still been curious.

So she had explained a few things with the Hokage's permission.

Naruto still didn't know who his parents were, but they both promised him that he'd fine out the instant he'd turn Chuunin.

That had lit the proverbial fire under his ass, thus the chakra control. He was almost at the Genin level finally, even if his reserves made it stupid hard.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Anko pulled out three scrolls and tossed them to her little minions. "That contains all the information you'll need. The team from Suna that we're showing around will consist of Sabaku no Gaara the youngest, she's around your age. Then her two older siblings Kankuro who is a puppeteer, and finally the eldest Temari; she uses a fan and has already started on her Elemental Manipulation despite being only a Genin."

"What's so special about that? Jerkass here's been using _Katon_ techniques for years." Naruto jerked a thumb at Sasuke, ducking to avoid being nailed in the face by Ino.

"That's an Uchiha thing." Anko shrugged.

Said Uchiha looking rather put out for a second before sighing. "No Uchiha can stay in the Academy unless they learn _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_ within the first year. It was a clan thing." The boy grimaced for a moment and shook his head. "It will be a clan thing again too." He nodded resolutely.

Anko clapped her hands together. "Off track people." She looked at her minions with a mocking grin. "You have two hours to shower and such. This is also a formal occasion so…" She trailed off, watching as Naruto hung his head and started to mutter. "Right. Meet me at the Main Gate."

With that, the newest Jounin of Konoha disappeared in a _Shunshin_ while her students trudged off the Training Ground to their respective homes.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Been sitting on the majority of this for the past few months. It's not...all that good, but, what can y'do? This fic is more of an experiment than anything I suppose, but I know the next chapter will be much, much better.

Naruko/Yuuku: I wanted to move away from the Naruko name since I don't exactly know what the hell that means other than it being a Fanon name. Yuuku through a handy dandy translation stands for 'Trouble' and I figured it fit.

If you go through my stories and come across a unique name, liek say in Add by Dreams, their names always mean something that fits with what they are when it comes to OC's. I think the two were Fat Trash and Lazy Trash or something like that for the guy that was killed in the first chapter and his father.

Anyway. Not much else to say here. Sorry for it taking so long to get out and I really hope it doesn't take another near year for the next chapter.

I apologize profusely and I hope you've enjoyed reading to at least this point.


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